The Advent of Misadventures
by KlonoaDreams
Summary: AU At age 13, Sora's been given the role of the hero, a partner who he considers the LAST person he'd ever choose to bring along in an adventure that may lead to death, and a team that is beyond normal. This is right after fate decides to take away the girl he's crushing on and turn his friend to the dark side. Nothing wants to go his way. Forget adventure, it's one misadventure!
1. Dive into the Heart

A/N This is it folks! This be KD's first story ever! Well, it was and then I revamped it. :D Also, this story is no longer known as Blossoming Adventure…why? Blossoming Adventure is the name of the series, not the titles as I decided to give them better names. For this one, you get The Advent of Misadventures! :D

**Disclaimer for the whole story: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS! **If I did, I would have done _Kiss the Girl_ musical in Atlantica (KH2) which should have been done. Who's with me? And I wouldn't be here typing this story, wouldn't I? Whatever! Let's start with the opening (yes, that's new)! Also, you might also notice, if you've been with me since the beginning, that the new edition of this story has *gasp* originality! How so, you ask? Heheheh, you'll see…

Summary: AU Sora's life has been pretty much normal, for lack of better terms. School was normal, if you consider being taught how to survive since day one of kindergarten. Blame the monsters that inhabit the areas outside town…it just explains why Sora can defend himself.

It also make things somewhat easier when fate decides to take away the girl he's crushing on, turn his friend to the dark side, and suddenly thrusts him the role of hero! Since then, life's been pretty hectic! Heroes aren't assigned the role of saving the world at thirteen going on fourteen! That's too unrealistic, despite everything that exists!

And to spite him, Sora also gets assigned a partner…while they may be his friend, Sora considers his assigned partner the **last** person he'd expect or even choose as a partner in an adventure that could lead to death. To add to that, their seemingly growing team gains an addition of a talking dog and duck. Screw unrealistic, it's _beyond_ normal! Nothing makes sense, it just happens! And it all began with these weird dreams…

Let's just hope Sora can keep his sanity and cool if he ever gets through this…actually, forget that, let's hope he can even get past level 1!

_**Voices**_:

_**Boy**_ _Girl_

"_This" _means thoughts/flashbacks

"This" means talking

"_**This"**_means voices/transmissions/etc…

"_This"_ means two or more voices talking at the same time

* * *

On a small beach with white sand and clear, calm waters…

A young girl walked along shore, looking for seashells as a bright light began to shine across the horizon, the ocean capturing the elegance of what was a beautiful sunrise. She yawned and looked at the sunrise, her eyes sparkling in awe before looking around the shore once more. She blinked a few times at the sight she saw a few feet away from her.

Lying back down on the sand, was a boy with spiky, brown hair, sleeping. The boy wore an outfit consisting of a red jumpsuit with a short-sleeved black and white hoodie and a blue belt tied around his waist. He also wore a chain necklace with a crown pendant, and a pair of white fingerless gloves. His large, yellow shoes were set down next to him on the sand.

He was dreaming yet another dream…only this one seemed to have troubled him more than the previous. Lately, this had been a usual occurrence for him, but as always, he managed to deal with them.

…

The boy with spiky brown hair felt like he was falling in his dream. His eyes felt heavily lidded when he opened them in his dreamlike state. Water was all around and shrouded in darkness from its deep depth. This had to be a dream…

A few thoughts coursed through his mind. _**"Where am I?"**_

"_Who are you?"_ a voice responded back.

The boy was surprised to hear a response…this was the first time anyone had ever responded back to his questions. In fact, this was the first time he heard a response from anyone aside the mysterious sentient voice that always seemed to lead and instruct him from time to time. He never knew when the voice came, but all he knew…was that he had nothing to worry about. The voice was a friend…though; this new voice was something else. Even so, he recognized it vaguely…then he remembered…it was another friend, one that he knew out of this dreamlike state.

"_**A friend,"**_ he replied.

"_Really…?"_ the voice asked. _"Well, in that case, hello!"_

The boy felt himself smile as he responded back. _"Hello to you, as well…"_

The boy's smile then faded as he sighed, somewhat troubled. The voice who had been talking to him seemed to have noticed his distress.

"_Is there something wrong?"_ the voice asked.

The boy felt reassured…finally having just found someone who seemed curious about his wellbeing. His confusion perturbed him to no end…just what had being going on in the past few weeks these dreams began to plague him. He had to tell…

"_**Can you keep a secret?"**_ he asked.

The voice seemed to pause in mid-thought before replying, _"Maybe I can…if you can also keep one as well."_

The boy smiled. _**"Very well…"**_

"_So what's your secret?"_ asked the voice.

The boy sighed. _**"I've been having these weird thoughts lately…Like is any of this for real or not?"**_

"_I don't know…"_ replied the voice. _"As for me, I've been having these weird thoughts lately, as well, though… What I don't get is what they're trying to tell me. You're a friend, right?"_

The boy blinked. _**"Yeah…I am."**_

"_I've been told that you and I have been chosen to do something,"_ the voice explained. _"Us…I mean, you don't seem special enough to be chosen, no offense. Though, neither am I…Are we…are we really the ones?"_

The boy felt his eyes begin to grow heavy. _**"I don't know…this is just so unreal…does it matter or not that we were chosen?"**_

"_That…I don't know,"_ replied the voice. _"If it does, why us…? That is the question I want to know…"_

The boy could no longer keep his eyes open and closed them. Everything went dark for him as he fell into a deep slumber…yet he was still conscious to speak. Was he really asleep?

"_**I want to know as well…but I can't find my way around,"**_ he said, finding his situation now different. It wasn't that he was asleep…it was just that darkness began to envelop him.

"_Why not?"_ asked the voice.

"_**It's too dark…I can't see,"**_ the boy replied. _**"Will you help me? We both want answers…maybe this will settle our questions."**_

"_Sure…I'll light up your way, if that's what you want,"_ the voice said.

"_**Then let's go…"**_ the boy said. _**"Let's go beyond into our hearts depths…"**_

"_You mean where that light shines within us?"_ asked the voice. _"Is that an invitation for an adventure?"_

"_**I guess so…think you can handle it?"**_ he asked.

The voice laughed. _"I live for adventure…let's go!"_

The boy blinked as a bright light began to shine within the dark abyss. The light gave him comfort…and it felt warm. He closed his eyes once more and began to fall asleep.

"_**Together…"**_ the boy said, smiling.

He fell into a peaceful slumber, caused from the calm and serene feeling the voice brought him as he descended down the dark abyss that was lit up by a tiny sparkle of light. (1)

When the boy opened his eyes, he found himself standing upright on what may have been a platform…he had no clue. It was too dark… A small sparkle of light in the distance caught his eye. He took a step forward to see what it was as the light neared. The second his foot made impact with the ground, the sparkle of light suddenly plunged into the ground. The platform below him began to light up as white doves materialized from beneath him all over from the ground. The boy covered his eyes, the bright light and scattered white feathers from the doves startling him slightly.

What the doves revealed was something to wonder as the boy found himself now standing on a yellow, green, and white stain glass portrait of a lovely girl with short, wavy hair that was black as ebony, fair skin white as snow, and full lips that were red as the red rose (2). She was dressed in a blue bodice with a high white collar on the back of it and an elegant yellow skirt that fell down to her ankles. She wore gold slippers decorated with a single small, white bow on the front and had a red ribbon tied in her hair into a bow. Her long-lashed eyes were closed as she held her right hand to her chest.

A red apple was held delicately in the girl's left hand, a small bite having been taken out of it by the girl. Surrounding her on the portrait, were woodland creatures and seven little men, each of them holding a different expression of emotion. Happy, grumpy, sleepy, bashful…the men seemed to show no harm at all and were of good intent…just like the woodland creatures.

"_**So much to do, so little time…"**_ said a mysterious voice.

"Who's that?" the boy asked.

The boy looked around. This boy…his name was Sora. After everything he had been through, it took him this long to remember his own name. Everything before this had been a blur…

And that voice…it was that same voice he heard many times in his dreams! (3)

"_Oh, it's him again…"_ thought Sora. _"Why do I always have to go through this? Let's just get it over with…"_

Here was to yet another restless, weird dream…

"_Take your time…don't rush,"_ said another voice.

Sora did a double take…did he just hear what he thought he heard? That voice he _definitely_ didn't recognize at _all_! It was entirely new…and he was pretty sure it was a girl, unlike the other voice, who was male. Sora backed away.

"_Don't be afraid!"_ the new voice reassured. _"I'm just another friend!"_

"_**You again…"**_ said the first voice. _**"Well, considering the current events, the door is still shut. Now step forward. Can you do it?"**_

Sora narrowed his eyes as he crossed his arms, his face holding an expression that said, "Are you kidding me?" He took a step forward and then another…he could still walk.

Suddenly, three pedestals appeared, each holding a different weapon, a shield, a staff, and a sword. The boy stared at them in wonder…the sword definitely caught his eye.

"_Power sleeps within you two,"_ said the second voice. _"You may not see your partner, but rest assured…you two are both accounted for."_

Sora had no idea what in the world the second voice was talking about.

"_Partner?"_ he thought. _"When was this?"_

In all of his weird dreams, Sora had never once heard the term, "partner", mentioned in them until now. Just what was going on?

"_If you give it form…"_ said the second voice. _"It will give you strength."_

"_**Choose well,"**_ said the first voice.

Sora blinked and looked over at the pedestals. He was just told to choose…he knew what he wanted!

"Sword time!" he exclaimed.

Sora dashed over to the middle pedestal, jumping on top of it to grab the sword. He gently handled the sword in his hand, examining its length, checking its weight, and testing out its hilt. He carefully ran his finger across the sword's blade, a small grin crossing his features.

"This, I like…" he said.

The sword had a decent reach…it wasn't that light-weighted, but not that heavy, either…it was balanced. And the blade was very lustrous, as if it was recently crafted by a blacksmith…and it was sharp. From what he learned in school, Sora found himself a very useful weapon.

"_**The power of the warrior…"**_ the first voice suddenly spoke. _**"Invincible courage…"**_

Sora blinked, having just noticed something. A small emblem on the sword's hilt caught his eye, bringing up a slight nostalgic feeling within him. It seemed oddly familiar…but why?

The second voice spoke up, adding to what the first voice had said. _"A sword of terrible destruction…is this the power you seek?"_

Sora blinked a few times as he stared at the sword in thought. The way the second voice spoke of the sword…made him think twice. It was a very decent weapon, yet the consequences it could bring… The staff was no use to him because he knew no magic, which was ironic to him, because his mother came from a family of Mages. Though, his father was just a Warrior…bit of a black sheep amongst his Black Mage family. (4)

"_How I hate irony…"_ he thought.

The shield looked like a decent weapon…it seemed very strong and durable; however, there was a problem. Sora wasn't a boy who knew his way around defensive weapons. The shield was too bulky to work with what he was usually used to working with and that was sword fighting. Working with a shield would be an awkward experience for Sora at the moment.

"_Note to self…learn to maneuver shield techniques,"_ thought Sora.

He made a mental note to take up classes once the weekend was over.

"_**Have you decided?"**_ asked the first voice.

Sora blinked and looked at the sword again. He nodded in response…he was going with the sword. A bright light suddenly flashed in his hands, enveloping the sword within it. This startled Sora as it took him completely by surprise. His right hand seemed to have absorbed the light as it began to wane. By the time the light had finally flickered out, Sora noticed that the sword was now gone. He blinked…what just happened?

"_**Your path is set,"**_ said the first voice._** "Now, what will you give up in exchange?"**_

Sora blinked and sighed. Of course things would never be this easy…no one just gives away a free sword without any catches. He hopped off the pedestal and idly walked over to the pedestal next to him, which is where the red and black shield resided. He stared at it for a few seconds and then jumped onto the pedestal, grabbing onto the shield afterwards.

It was just as he thought…a very decent defense weapon. The metal it was made out of was very sturdy. Despite this, Sora couldn't exactly work with it. It was just too difficult for him to adjust with it.

"_I guess I should give this up…" _he thought. _"Hmm…?"_

He blinked as he noticed the shield's unique design on the center of it. The design consisted of three red circles, resembling the emblem on the sword's hilt. Was there something he should know about the emblem?

"_The power of the guardian…"_ the second voice said. _"Kindness to aid friends…A shield to repel all…"_

"_**You give up this power?"**_ asked the first voice.

Sora blinked and immediately shook his head. He knew a foolish decision when he came across one. It would be stupid of him to get rid of defense…defense…of course! The sword was offense, the shield was defense, and the staff must be magic…

He was choosing his way of growth.

Sora released the shield and hopped off the pedestal. The shield was sticking with him…the staff, on the other hand…

"_To hell with the staff…"_ he thought as he grabbed the staff.

"_**The power of the mystic…"**_ said the first voice. _**"Inner strength…A staff of wonder and ruin…"**_

"_You give up this power?"_ asked the second voice.

Sora did not hesitate to nod his head. While magic was nice, he had no experience with it to deem it useful for him. The staff immediately disappeared in a flash of light.

"_**You have chosen the power of the warrior,"**_ the first voice mused._** "You've given up the power of the mystic in order to keep the power of the guardian."**_

"_You are a strong person, yet you have the kindness to protect people…"_ the second voice deduced from Sora's actions. _"Is this the form you seek?_

Sora nodded. He had done his thinking and was very comfortable with his choices…he was almost glad that he had no experience with magic whatsoever.

"_**You are very perceptive in your choices…use it to your advantage,"**_ said the first voice._** "It will guide you in some of the most difficult of situations."**_

Sora felt pleased with his perceptiveness…for once, it wasn't just useful in reconnaissance missions he was usually given at school. Everyone always fought over who would be his partner, only because his perceptiveness was got him good grades in that area. (5)

"_Within you, is the power of the mystic,"_ said the second voice._ "While you may have given it up, it is a power that can never truly be given up…just hidden. A time will come when you shall be in need for it, as for now…that power will still remain a mystery to you."_

"_**The power sleeps deep within you two…"**_ said the first voice. _**"Soon, your partner will accompany you, for now…you are on your own."**_

Sora was okay with that, but just who was his partner? Sora was snapped out of his thoughts as the pedestal he stood upon, suddenly sank into the ground. He let out a startled yelp as he tried to keep his balance. This, as he found out, was a vain attempt as the stain-glass platform that was just beneath him began to shatter into many pieces. The speed at which the glass shattered increased as the break headed towards him. Sora looked around, the tension high as there was no other place to escape from this.

"I'm screwed…" he uttered.

The shattering glass reached him in a matter of seconds. With nothing under him to stand on, it was just a matter of moments before gravity took its effect and sent Sora falling downwards.

"Damn you gravity!" Sora screamed.

Everything then went black…

When Sora came to, he found himself sore with pain. It didn't help that his head was throbbing…it was almost unbearable. Sora gritted his teeth as he pushed himself off the ground. At least he was still able to move his body…

"Gah, my head…" he groaned.

Sora rubbed his head, trying his best to ease the pain. It didn't work much, but it helped to a certain extent. He inhaled deeply and exhaled.

"_Might as well take the time to look at my surroundings," _he thought. "Huh?"

Sora blinked as he looked at the stained glass floor. It was another portrait of another young lady; only this one had different hues and mixtures of purple, black, blue, and white. It was lovely…

The object that the portrait seemed to be centered on was of a fair-skinned young lady dressed in an elegant, flowing white dress with white gloves that extended to halfway up her upper arms. She had blonde hair tied up in a bun with a white headband decorating her hair.

The designs around her seemed to give off a suggestion that, assuming from the attire she was in, the lady was or had been attending a royal ball. All in all, the young lady was beautiful, though something about her piqued Sora's curiosity. Just like the young lady in the previous platform, this one was also asleep.

"_Is there a connection to them?"_ Sora thought.

A sudden bright light flashed before him, startling Sora senseless as he was just in deep thought. Can't he think in peace for once?

After the light waned, Sora blinked a few times before coming to a realization. His right hand wasn't holding something a minute ago… Sora looked at his right hand, his eyes widening at the sight of what he held. In his right hand was the very same sword that represented the power of the warrior. He gripped the hilt firmly, feeling a wave of energy course through him.

"_**You've gained the power to fight,"**_ said the first voice._**"Use this power to protect yourself and others."**_

"_Try it,"_ said the second voice.

Sora blinked and nodded. He gripped the sword's hilt with both hands and positioned himself. He then took a step forward and swung down. He swung the sword a few more times after that before he finally stopped.

"_All right!"_ the second voice said in a cheery tone._ "You got it."_

"_**There will be times you have to fight,"**_ said the first voice.

As if to prove the first voice's point, an ink-black creature with a vaguely humanoid body and yellow beady eyes suddenly appeared from the ground…literally. It had gone from being two-dimensional to three-dimensional. The creature had a spherical head with two long, twisted antennae sprouting from it. It had large feet with no discernable digits and had three clawed fingers on each of its two hands. The creature twitched slightly as it stood up, its attention diverting to a different direction ever few seconds.

"What the heck is that?" exclaimed Sora.

The creature reacted to Sora's exclamation by plunging into the ground and disappearing. Sora blinked as he was very much confused with what just happened. Unbeknownst to him, the creature hadn't disappeared…it went two-dimensional into the ground and was currently sneaking up behind Sora. It then went three-dimensional once it was behind Sora and was about to attack him when…

"_Behind you!"_ both voices exclaimed.

Sora did a quick 180 and swung his sword down on the creature, effectively killing the creature with a good headshot. The creature disappeared in an inky-black puff of smoke. Sora didn't get much of a break after killing that creature as more of those creatures began to spawn from the ground.

"_Why can't I ever seem to get a break, here?"_ thought Sora.

"_**Keep your light burning strong,"**_ said the first voice.

Sora resisted the urge to snap back as he began to eradicate the whole group of ink-black creatures.

Later,

Sora was panting heavily, having just killed around a dozen of ink-black creatures. They knew how to put up a fight when they could! Sora wiped the sweat off his brow, cursing mentally when he realized he forgot to kill one of the creatures.

The creature just stood a few feet away from Sora, staring at him, almost mocking him with the fact that it was still alive. Before Sora could react, the creature sunk down into the stained-glass floor, plunging the floor into darkness. The darkness started to spread everywhere on the floor at a rapid rate, soon engulfing the portrait of the young lady Sora stood upon.

Sora began to struggle as the dark tendrils dwelling within the darkness pulled him down. The tendrils were cold and disgusting to the touch for Sora, making him struggle even more. His attempt to escape was in vain, as he sank deeper and deeper into the darkness. Everything went black again, but his struggling continued, even in his current unconscious state.

"Where am I?" he said. "Get off me!"

It was pitch, black darkness…Sora had no clue where he was and the tendrils were still all over him. It was disgusting…and he was scared out of his wits.

"Somebody…anybody…help me!" he screamed.

He couldn't open his eyes, so he wasn't able to see a delicate, pale hand reach out to him from out of the darkness. The hand seemed to light up the area as it reached for Sora. A serene voice accompanied the hand as it gently grasped his shoulder.

"_Wake up…"_ said the voice. _"There's no need to be afraid."_

Sora recognized the voice! It was that friend of his! What was their name? He couldn't recall…not yet. Still, he was glad to hear that his friend was there.

"_Remember when I told you I'd be there to light up the way?"_ the voice asked. _"Well, here I am!"_

The voice laughed, sparking a light within the darkness. (6) The light spread throughout the darkness, lighting up the whole way as Sora roused from his sleep. Before he woke up, he could swear he saw who his friend was…but at that exact same moment, his eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Gah!" he exclaimed.

Sora sat up, his heart pounding in his chest and his eyes wide open. It was just a dream…

"_Then why I am still here?"_ he thought as he looked around.

He was on yet another stained-glass platform; only this time…there was no portrait of a lovely young lady. Instead, it was just a simple stained-glass platform that was primarily pink and white in coloration with some light blue, gold, and black. There were three silhouettes of what seemed to be young girls decorating platform.

"What is going on?" asked Sora. "What is it with these platforms?"

Sora got off the platform, standing up as he decided to look around. He stopped when he saw an elegant-looking brown door across from him at the edge of the platform.

"_When…did that get there?"_ he thought.

Sora ran over to the door, wanting to get a better look at it. After a few observations, Sora made an attempt to open the door, however, he couldn't. It was shut tight…and it wouldn't budge.

"_I can't open it…"_ he thought as he crossed his arms. "Well, I'm out of ideas…"

Sora turned around and blinked as he looked up, having noticed a sudden ray of light coming from above. The light was at the near edge of the platform, a red treasure chest suddenly appear from the light. Sora blinked and grinned as he made a dash for the treasure chest.

Treasure chests are very crucial findings as Sora learned through his training, though, he had to be very careful of _which_ treasure chests he opened. Sora looked over the treasure chest before he opened it. Afterwards, he knelt down and opened the chest, finding…

"Nothing…" he complained as he frowned. "I got ripped off…"

That, or someone beat him to this treasure chest. It was not unheard of, but then again, this was a dream…maybe.

FLASH!

Sora blinked and turned around, arching his brow as he noticed something that wasn't there before. It was a brown crate decorated with stars…it was on the center of the platform and it definitely wasn't there before…well, before Sora opened the treasure chest.

"_A connection?"_ he thought. _"Maybe if I break it open…"_

Sora focused a bit, his thoughts channeling his ability to call out his sword. In a few seconds, his sword appeared in his right hand. This ability was gained through numerous months of training and years of learning in school. Despite this, his ability (and experience) only worked with swords, hence why he chose the sword.

"_Perfect…"_ he thought.

Sora walked over to the crate, stopping in front of it to look over it. He knocked on the crates sides, listening carefully as he tried to find a weak spot. He stopped when he heard the hollow sound he was looking for. Then, he positioned himself in front of the crate and thrust his sword into the crate's side.

The sword's blade went directly into the crate with ease. Sora grinned as he saw the hole he made after he pulled out the sword. It was big enough for him to reach into with his hand, which he did and when he did, he managed to find himself a blue little box.

Sora's grin widened as he knew what the box held…it was a potion. The basic of basic healing items…they were very crucial for situations like these. Sora pocketed the potion and looked around afterwards.

"What now?" he asked.

As if almost on cue, the door Sora couldn't open suddenly glowed with a brilliant light, catching Sora's attention. A barrel appeared in the center of the platform, replacing the crate that Sora had plunged his sword into.

"_Try breaking it,"_ said the second voice.

Sora blinked and nodded. He held up his sword and swung down on the barrel with immense force, breaking the barrel open. A small ringing noise caught Sora's ear. He looked around for the source of the noise, but could find none.

"_What was that?"_ he thought, stopping when his gaze fell upon the door. _"Maybe…"_

Sora walked over to the door again and just as he was about to reach for the handle, the door started to open on its own. Sora blinked, covering his eyes as a bright light flashed from within the door. The light was so bright…but something was telling him to go in…maybe he should.

The light began to envelop Sora as he walked closer and closer towards the open door. Then, the light suddenly waned and Sora found himself in a very familiar, sunny place.

"_This…place,"_ he thought. _"My island!"_

The sound of the ocean and the cries from the seagulls caught his ear. It was such a pleasant sound to hear…and the sunlight! Sora closed his eyes and relaxed slightly as he felt the sunlight warm him. He opened his eyes and blinked when he spotted a familiar face sitting just a few feet away from him.

It was a young, green-eyed girl with somewhat long, brown hair. Her hair was peculiarly styled; with a large curl on the back of her head and a curl on each side of her head. She wore a yellow dress with overall straps and a large pocket on the chest. She had on brown sandals and wore a loose, blue beaded bracelet on her left wrist.

Sora knew her as one of his friends…it was his friend, Selphie. Despite her cheery and adorable looks, she could be deadly…with a jump rope. Sora knew from experience and at her age, she was already hacking computers. She just needed to perfect a few of her skills. (7)

Selphie was not someone to cross…but she was a good friend and a romanticist at heart. She was sitting at top of the wooden banister of the wooden platform they were on. She was looking around, minding her own business when she spotted Sora. She immediately smiled and waved at him.

"Sora!" she exclaimed. "Come over here, I got something to tell ya!"

Sora, knowing from experience, knew that he had no choice but to listen to her. Sighing, he walked over to her.

"_Please don't be in romanticist mode…"_ he thought.

The first thing Sora noticed when he walked up to Selphie that it was not really his friend. There was something about her…that struck him oddly. She wasn't his friend, but yet she still was…

"_**Hold on,"**_ said the first voice._** "The door won't open just yet."**_

"_First, tell us more about yourself, be honest,"_ said the second voice.

"Of course…" he muttered.

It was just a dream…still, Sora knew that he might as well listen.

"_Just what do they mean by 'be honest'?" _thought Sora.

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face as he stared into Selphie's dreamy expression. She was staring at him…and it scared him. However, when she spoke, Sora finally realized what the voice meant by "be honest".

"What's most important to you?" asked Selphie. "Being number one…friendship…or your prize possessions…choose one."

Sora blinked. The voices wanted him to answer Selphie's question honestly. Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head. Being number one never mattered to Sora, but the choice between friendship and his prized possessions…just what did it meant by prized possessions? Sora inhaled and exhaled as he decided to go with what sounded best to him.

"Friendship," he answered.

Selphie grinned widely and asked, "Is friendship really that important to you?"

Sora blinked and narrowed his eyes at Selphie. "If it's what's keeping me from kicking your ass, then yes."

Selphie gasped and crossed her arms as she pouted at Sora.

"Meanie!" she exclaimed, sticking her tongue out afterwards.

Sora rolled his eyes and turned around, blinking when he noticed yet another familiar face. This time, it was a boy…about the same age as Selphie, albeit a bit older.

The boy had short, sandy-blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a unique pair of navy pants with uneven legs, the right pant leg reaching just past his knee, and his left reaching to just about mid-thigh. Along with this, he wore a small, short-sleeved yellow shirt with white sleeves and yellow hems. The shirt was open, exposing the boy's chest and he ha d a small, x-shaped scar on his right cheek.

This was Tidus, one of the most self-centered and outspoken friend Sora had and knew.

He was very cheerful and upbeat, yet, despite his personality, Tidus was actually sensitive at times. Tidus knew how to hold himself in battle using a wooden stick as a bokken. (8) He was also one of the best Blitzball players Sora knew personally, next to Wakka, who was a friend to him, Tidus, and Selphie.

Speaking of Wakka, Sora just noticed that the older teen was standing just across from him.

Wakka was the oldest of the trio that consisted of him, Selphie, and Tidus. He was also the oldest of Sora's friends at age seventeen. He had brown eyes and orange hair with an enormous coif and wore baggy yellow pants that close halfway down his lower legs. Each of his pant legs had a large, gray 'X'-shaped strap with blue tips and around both his wrists were blue wristbands. He wore a pale, yellow tank-top with a black lining, green sandals, and a blue bandanna tied around his head. (9)

Sora stared at Tidus, who was currently looking at him with a wide grin.

"What are you afraid of?" Tidus asked. "Gettin' old… being different…or being indecisive…choose one."

Getting old was definitely not one of Sora's fears and being indecisive…he never thought once about being unable to make up his mind as being scary, just annoying. That just left…

"Being different," answered Sora.

Yes, it was a simple answer that was very important to Sora. He always wanted to stay the same person, no matter what because he was deeply afraid that if he ever changed…if he _ever_ became different…the people he's known and befriended would no longer recognize him. That's what he was mostly afraid of…

"Is being different really that scary?" asked Tidus.

Sora looked sternly at Tidus and snapped, "Yes…yes it is."

Tidus jolted slightly and held up his hand in his defense.

"Okay, sorry!" he apologized meekly.

Sora looked sternly at Tidus and sighed, ruffling the boy's hair. "Apology accepted."

Sora could never stay mad at Tidus for too long…it was difficult. Sora sighed and walked over to Wakka…one more question to go.

"_Then what?"_ thought Sora.

Wakka was currently throwing up and catching the blitzball he had in his hand. He stopped and turned to see Sora standing right in front of him. He grinned and asked,

"What do you want outta life? To see rare sights…to broaden your horizons…or to be strong…choose one."

Sora blinked and placed his hand on his chin. What _did_ he want? After a full minute, he answered, "To be strong."

Wakka arched his brow as he said, "To be strong, huh? Anything involving bullying come into mind?"

Sora stuttered a bit, causing Wakka to grin.

"Hit the nail, ya?" said Wakka.

Sora found out really quickly as a kid that it didn't matter if your father was Destiny Island's well-respected warrior or that your mother came from a noble line of Mages (also well-respected), if bullies have a reason to bully you, they _will_. For Sora, that was looking like a girl and being the child of Destiny Island's well-respected residents that just about _everyone_ knew. Thankfully for him, Sora had a lot of friends to stick up for him…Wakka was one of them and, as a well-respected Blitzball player on the school's Blitzball team, Wakka _knew_ how to keep bullies at bay.

Sora tried to explain his answer because it was _much_ more than that when Wakka suddenly ruffled his hair, catching the spiky-haired boy by surprised.

"Gah!" exclaimed Sora.

"Sora, it's okay," Wakka reassured. "You know we always have your back, brudda."

Sora slapped Wakka's hand away, earning a chuckle from the older boy. Sora didn't want to become strong because of his bullies…well, for the most part. He just wanted to be able to defend his own friends as well as himself for once.

"_They have done so much for me…"_ thought Sora.

Sora walked away from Wakka, stopping when he heard the first voice speak.

"_**You want to be strong,"**_ the first voice said._** "You're afraid of being different and you value friendship."**_

Sora nodded.

"_**Your adventures begin at midday,"**_ said the first voice.

"_Keep a steady pace and you'll come through fine,"_ said the second voice.

Sora was satisfied with this outcome. "Sounds good."

The voices then spoke together. _"__The day you will open the door is both far off and very near."_

A bright light flashed and Sora found himself at the place where he began this whole scenario… in the dark place with the stained-glass platform. The color palette of this stained-glass platform was of purple, red, black, orange, green, and pink. In the center of it, was a beautiful sleeping young lady holding a red rose close to her chest.

The young lady had long, golden blonde hair with ends that curled and red lips. She wore a gold tiara in her hair, had a gold necklace around her neck, and was dressed in an elegant, blue long-sleeved dress. Green thorns surrounded the lower half of the stain glass platform.

Curiosity getting the better of them, Sora began to walk forward. After taking only a few steps, the black creatures began to spawn from the ground, yet again. With an irritated groan, Sora summoned his sword and charged towards the swarm.

Moments later,

Sora laid the finishing blow on the last of the creatures. He wiped the sweat off his brow and exhaled. It wasn't difficult to destroy all those creatures, just tedious and slightly painful. Sora looked up as he noticed a light shining from above. A green, glowing circle then appeared onto the ground, just a few feet away from him.

Sora lowered his sword and walked over to the circle. He stared at it for a full minute, not knowing what to make of it.

Feeling brave (or rather stupid), Sora took a step and walked into the circle. The circle reacted immediately to the boy's presence as it shined brightly, a green aura enveloping him. Sora gasped and looked at himself, his attention focused on the small cuts and bruises he gained from fighting against the black creatures. The green aura radiating from him continued to glow as a soothing sensation began to ease his pain. His cuts glowed and somehow, began to heal themselves.

After a minute, Sora stepped out of the circle and looked over himself. His eyes widened as he noticed that he was completely heal. His cuts were gone, as were his bruises, and he felt oddly revitalized.

"_Magic that specifies in healing…is White Magic,"_ thought Sora._ "So that must be what that circle is…"_

It explained how his wounds were healed, so Sora didn't doubt his assumption whatsoever. It explained a lot and he was sticking with it!

Sora blinked as he saw a light in the same shape as the green circle, move across the floor. Once it reached the edge, a pathway made of variously colored stained-glass appeared and formed a path for Sora to walk on…assuming he was supposed to walk on it.

"_**You may continue,"**_the first voice said.

Sora stared at the pathway for a full minute…was it safe?

"_Go on,"_ urged the second voice.

Sora nodded and ran towards the pathway, not questioning why he listened to the second voice better than the first. It might have been something involving how much more the second voice was more reassuring than the first…that, and Sora had issues with the first voice. Those previous dreams of him were hell because of it…it involved _a lot_ of running and dodging.

"_As if school wasn't enough…"_ thought Sora.

A few moments later,

Sora blinked as he came upon yet another stained-glass platform. This time, the platform had a brighter choice of colors. There were bright colors of yellow and gold with a mixture of brown, a bit of orange, and a splash of red. The portrait was of a young lady wearing an elegant, yellow ball gown and a hideous beast, who stood by her side. The lady wore pearl earrings and had short, brown hair with some of it pulled up in the back and held in place with a golden band. The lady was beautiful, her looks a stark comparison to the hideous beast that stood behind her. His blue eyes strayed away from the beautiful maiden and stared out. A red rose stood upon both the young lady and the beast, most likely a symbol representing something between the two.

Sora blinked as he found a similar connection to all the portraits of the young ladies.

"Their eyes…they're all closed," said Sora. "All of them…except for him…"

The beast in the stained-glass portrait was wide awake, the only being that was awake in all the stained-glass platforms Sora had seen. There _definitely_ had to be a connection.

Sora frowned as he noticed something about the beast in the portrait. The beast…looked so sad…and despite his hideous looks, there was something about the beast that made him human.

"_His eyes…"_ thought Sora. _"It has to be his eyes."_

Suddenly, the first voice spoke again. _**"The closer you get to the light…"**_

"…_the greater your shadow becomes,"_ the second voice finished.

Sora shuddered as he felt a presence behind him. He slowly turned his head back before…

"What the…?" exclaimed Sora.

Sora's eyes widened as he saw something that just plain out disturbed him. It was his shadow…but there was something wrong with it, so very wrong with it. The problem with it was that it was insanely huge. Something within Sora made his heart nearly stopped as he watched his shadow suddenly pop out from the floor. The shadow began to grown, morphing into an ink-black monster with a heart-shaped hollow in his chest and a humanoid body. It scared Sora…that thing just formed out of his own shadow!

It disturbed him…

"What kind of person am I?" Sora exclaimed as he placed his hands on his head.

The monster focused his gaze on Sora, something that Sora noticed and was deeply intimidated with.

"Oh, god, it can think!" was what Sora exclaimed as it was the first thing that popped into his mind.

Sora began to back up, immediately turning around after taking three steps. He made a run for it, hoping to escape with the help of the stained-glass pathway. However, he found out the hard way that it was gone and that was by almost falling off the edge.

Sora's heart was pounding in his chest like a drum as he realized…he was stuck.

"Fuck…" swore Sora. (10)

"_But don't be afraid,"_ the second voice quickly added.

Sora narrowed his eyes at the enigmatic second voice. Even though he was pretty much okay and even tolerated it, unlike the _other_ one, Sora was at his breaking point. He held up his fist and shook it angrily at whatever he thought could be the direction the voice came from.

"Damn you, reassuring voice!" exclaimed Sora.

"_**Leave her alone!"**_ snapped the first voice.

Sora blinked, his eyes widening slightly as he found out about something. He just yelled at a girl…whom he didn't know… Sora's face reddened from embarrassment.

"_Oh, god, I feel like I did something horrible…"_ thought Sora. _"Wait, this is a dream…"_

Sora snapped out of it and waved it off.

"Look, bud, I'm stuck with an enormous monster and the lady says for me to _not_ be afraid," remarked Sora. "I'm sorry, but I can't help but be rather ticked at that suggestion!"

"_Deal with it or I'll take the sword away,"_ the second voice said darkly.

Sora blinked a few times and crossed his arms. "Lady, you drive a hard bargain, but I'll take it…by the way, do you mind if I call you Lady?"

"_I don't mind and…am I supposed to be talking to him this way?"_ the second voice, who shall now be known as Lady, asked.

Sora could hear the first voice sigh in exasperation.

"_**I have no idea…I'm new to this stuff,"**_ the first voice admitted. _**"It's too late to do anything, now…this is the last trial."**_

Sora blinked. "You mean, after this, I can finally sleep?"

"_Pretty much!"_ chirped Lady.

Sora pumped his fist into the air. "Sweet freedom!"

"_**Oh, c'mon, I'm not that bad…"**_ said the first voice.

"You made me dodge fireballs and flee from hellhounds!" yelled Sora.

"_Oi, that's really bad,"_ said Lady.

"_**Not helping…"**_ said the first voice. _**"Oh, and don't forget…"**_

Sora arched his brow. "Don't forget what?"

"_You might wanna start attacking, now,"_ said Lady.

Sora blinked and turned, exclaiming as he barely dodged the monster's fist as it punched the platform, sending out small shockwaves, which Sora dodged as well.

"_I wonder how this platform ain't breaking from the sheer force of that hit,"_ said Lady. _"Isn't it made out of stained-glass?"_

"_**Just…just don't ask,"**_ said the first voice.

Sora blinked and looked up. "Hey! Are you guys gonna help me out or what?"

"_**Sorry, bud, but you're on your own,"**_ said the first voice.

"_Can't help you out this time, sorry!"_ said Lady.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "You guys are jerks…holy geez!"

Sora dodged another punch from the monster, this time, the punch had another affect. Aside from a shockwave, the monster's fist plunged into the platform as a vortex of darkness pooled around its wrist. Numerous black creatures began to spawn from the out of black vortex of darkness.

Sora narrowed his eyes and was so annoyed; he _almost_ threw down the sword.

"Are you fricken' kidding me?" exclaimed Sora. "I call shenanigans on this!"

"_Fight or you lose sword,"_ said Lady.

"_**She's serious," **_said the first voice.

Sora groaned. "Fine…"

"_All right, I'll give you a hint,"_ said Lady. _"When you encounter a giant enemy, aim for the eye…no one can train one's eyes…"_

"_**Lady, you pretty much gave it away,"**_ said the first voice.

"_Oh, shut up, Blondie,"_ Lady retorted.

"Will you two quit it?" exclaimed Sora. "I'm trying to survive, here!"

The two voices stopped their talking as Sora was pretty much trying to keep his ground among many numerous darkness spawned creatures and the huge monster. Sora blinked as he noticed something…

"The guy's a blond?" exclaimed Sora.

"_Yup, he sure is!"_ chirped Lady.

"_**I have no idea how the heck this whole trial went from something so serious, to something so comical as this…"**_ the first voice who shall be known as Blondie groaned. (11)

"Blame Lady," remarked Sora.

"_**Might as well,"**_ said Blondie.

"_Hey!"_ snapped Lady.

Sora sighed and looked at the monster. How was he able to act so casual in this situation? Nothing made sense…then again, it was a dream, and sometimes dreams _didn't_ make sense.

"_Okay, Lady said to aim for the eyes…" _thought Sora. _"Just how am I supposed to do that?"_

Sora blinked and leapt into the air as he avoided a huge shockwave the monster made when it plunged its fist into the platform. The vortex of darkness appeared again on the platform, as did the creatures that spawned from it. Sora blinked again and nodded as he found his answer.

The monster had its fist plunged into the ground, unintentionally giving Sora an opening. Sora dashed towards the monster and hopped onto the back of its hand. The monster had no clue what Sora was doing until it realized that he was using its hand as a pathway to his face. Sora dodged a swat made at him from the monster and plunged his sword into the monster's shoulder when it tried to shake him off.

The monster let out a pained hiss and made an attempt to pull Sora off, but Sora was faster than it. Sora quickly pulled out his sword in a not so gentle way, distracting the monster by means of paining it. Sora used this opportunity to land an attack on the monster's face.

The monster let out a pained roared this time and fell onto its knees, its sudden movement causing Sora to fall off. Sora landed deftly on his feet, falling only out of shock when he saw his sword disappear right out of his hand.

"What?" he exclaimed. "Lady, I thought we had a deal!"

This time, Lady didn't say anything and neither did Blondie. The two were relatively quiet…too quiet. Sora's eyes widened as he saw the floor below him turn into darkness. The same inky black tendrils that disgusted him returned and grasped his legs as they tried to pull him into the darkness.

"Get off!" exclaimed Sora.

Sora's eyes widened even more as he stared in horror at the monster before him. It was going to fall on him and most likely, crush him to near oblivion…in short, death.

"_**But don't be afraid,"**_ said Blondie.

Surprisingly, Blondie didn't get a smart aleck remark from Sora as he was too busy struggling and panicking as he was going to be crushed and he was being pulled into darkness.

"_You hold the mightiest weapon of all,"_ said Lady. _"As does your partner."_

Sora's eyes widened as he realized something. He forgotten about his aforementioned partner…just who was it?

"Just who is my partner?" yelled Sora.

In a desperate attempt to escape, Sora resorted to crawling, but it was all in vain. Sora reached out a hand in a last attempt, but it was soon covered in darkness. This was it…this was really it…

"_**So don't forget,"**_ said Blondie.

Sora was now on his backs, his eyes widened in horror as he was fully enveloped in darkness. The last thing he heard before he blacked out, was the two voices saying:

"_You two are the ones who will open the door,"_

Everything went black.

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of final revamp: 10-16-11

As you can see, it's been edited a third time and you've noticed a lot of differences if you have been with this story since the first edit in 2009 and the second in early 2011…yeah, everything's changed and I'll say one thing…this will probably be my last revamp and you will see new changes, just you wait.

I began writing this series back when I was **KairiDestiny**, which is what I count as a time where I just wrote for fun and didn't care much for grammar and such until waaay later into Blossoming Adventure II.

I am now **KlonoaDreams** and I would like to make this statement…as I edit this story, I am doing it as my new self, one who cares about grammar and making sure this story is serious half the time and not too random to where it strays from the plot. I'm still **KD** no matter what! The only thing that changes about me would be my plot a bit, but mostly…my writing style! So, yeah! Here are the notes!

(1) Who this person is…you're just going to have to wait and find out. I ain't spoiling it… For those who think they know who it is and have been with this story since it was first published…I'll tell you this, what makes you think I haven't changed it? Huh?

(2) It's either red rose or blood…depends, but yeah!

(3) Okay, before you read this…SPOILER! I think the voice in Sora's Dive into the Heart is Ventus…I won't say anymore, you're just gonna have to look up why. And remember…Roxas…that is all.

(4) This is something that explains the way Sora's leveling works and such. His mother was a Mage, a White Mage, to be precise, and his father is a Warrior…no magic whatsoever, which is why Sora chooses not to take up the staff. Reason? He takes mostly after his father in abilities. Yeah…this will get explained better later on.

(5) You will get a better understanding as to why Sora has to go through this in his school. I will give you this…take heed as to what was said in the summary. That is actually an important key factor in why Sora knows how to fight.

(6) Guess who~! Well, not yet! Not much has passed, but this can still be left for speculation…just not now. It's still just chapter one, so it'll leave you wondering.

(7) Here's a fact…Selphie is actually a skilled hacker in the game she came from, which is _Final Fantasy VIII_. This Selphie shall stick somewhat close to her original origins…somewhat, because VIII!Selphie is seventeen or around there…too lazy to look it up right now! DX

(8) Look up what a bokken is and as for Tidus…he is going to be somewhat close to his Final Fantasy X character. Also, if you noticed their age…I've made them younger for the sake of the story! DX Don't question it just yet! It's still chapter one and my explanation will be given in future chapters!

(9) Take note that I make long descriptions so I don't have to do so for future chapters and such…it's for future references, and yeah. Please note that Wakka is older here…really just to make it so he is the oldest of the Destiny Islands crew and also just for the heck of it.

(10) Please note that in certain situations, I WILL drop an f-bomb. It's rated T, but I'm not keeping it that PG-13 and all…yeah.

(11) Exactly what Blondie said…this came up in the spur of the moment when I thought "What if Sora talked to the voice?" Yeah…this is what happened and just to make a note, Blondie isn't my character and Lady…well, you'll find out. Plus, take note of Blondie and think Roxas…who looks like him and may possibly be the voice in Sora's Dive into the Heart? There were go. People who have played the game shall know!

As for now, just continue onto the next chapter if you wish, I'm running short on time because it's Sunday and I have school tomorrow…it's almost 11 PM and my mom will be ticked if she finds me awake…DX


	2. Just Another Day

Sunlight from a bright sun in a clear blue sky penetrated Sora's lids, waking him up. He sat up and looked around at his surroundings. He saw nothing but the white sand and the clear aqua waters crashing gently along the shore. The sky was a beautiful azure blue and clouds lazily moved across the morning sky…or was it noon?

Sora didn't know what time it was, but he really didn't care. That was one hell of a dream he had…partners…

"_Tch…whatever,"_ he thought, yawning loudly afterward.

Sora was about to lie back down onto the sand and to go back to sleep, seeing as it felt like something he would rather do despite the ominous and restless dream he just had (actually, it was the main reason he wanted to go back to sleep…he was exhausted). That was what he had in mind until he realized that a familiar dark-red haired girl with blue eyes was staring right down at him.

He didn't expect this…hell! He just woke up! This was the type of wake-up he _hated_ because it startled him badly. So in reaction, he immediately sat up and yelled, "Whoa!"

The girl giggled at Sora's reaction as he maneuvered himself onto his knees, facing the girl's direction. He sighed and looked up at the girl.

"Gimme a break, Kairi," he said.

Kairi was a girl around his age. She had a pale complexion (as opposed to his tan complexion) and had violet-blue eyes and short, dark red hair. She wore a white tank-top over a black one and a short purple skirt with shorts of the same color under. On her left wrist, she wore a yellow wristband with a purple armband on the same arm and on her right wrist; she had on a pair of bracelets. She wore a black choker with a necklace with a single pearl pendant and a pair of purple and white slip-ons.

Kairi just laughed again in response to Sora's comment. She placed her hands behind her back and stood up straight as she said, "Sora, you lazy bum! I knew I'd find you here!"

Sora stuttered a bit and flailed his arms around. "No! You've got it all wrong! This huge, black THING swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't—"

Sora yelped as Kairi brought her fist down her friend's head. "Ow!"

Sora placed his hand on his head to tend to the possibly forming new bump. Kairi bent down to his level until they were both at eye-contact.

"Are you still dreaming?" she asked.

Sora looked at Kairi with narrowed eyes. "It wasn't a dream!"

…

…

"Or was it?" Sora was rather uncertain. Everything was rather hazy for him... "I don't know. What was that place? So bizarre…"

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure…Now do me a favor and wake up my sister."

Sora looked at Kairi, his eyes narrowed into blue orbs as he stared blankly at her.

**DOT DOT DOT…**

"_Hell_ **no**!" he exclaimed. "How am I supposed to wake her up without getting a black-eye? You tell me?"

Last time Sora tried to wake up Kairi's sister, he lost his last baby tooth. Though, to be fair, dumping a bucket of sea water on a sleeping girl wasn't exactly the best idea he ever had... Still, he rather not risk it.

Kairi thrust a small rock into Sora's hand and directed him at her sister. "Here's a rock, you figure it out. I'm gonna go back and look for some seashells."

Sora looked deadpanned at Kairi as he watched her walk towards the shore. "And you call me the lazy bum…"

Kairi turned her head to Sora and asked, "What was that?"

Sora stuttered and immediately said, "Nothing!"

Kairi nodded her head and continued back to searching for seashells. "That's what I thought…"

Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he looked at the rock in his hand. He turned to where Kairi's sister, a girl with long, chestnut brown hair, slept under the bridge. Tossing the rock up into the air and catching it after it fell down, Sora hoped with all the skill and aim he worked on so hard when he skipped stones across the ocean water that they would work on a rock he was about ready to send at a sleeping girl. He deftly threw the rock and watched with anticipation as he bit his lower lip.

The rock flew across from where Sora sat on the sand to where the bridge was. After crashing into the bridge, the rock was sent downwards, landing right onto the sleeping girl's face. She immediately woke up with a pained yelp as she sat up and rubbed her forehead. She looked at the rock that lied on the sand and looked around for anyone who seemed suspicious. Seeing no one except Kairi, who was gathering seashells, and Sora, who was currently falling asleep on the sand, the girl just shrugged and got up.

The girl wore a white, sleeveless hoodie with a black tank-top underneath and a pair of dark blue shorts. Around her neck, she wore a necklace with a silver chain and a sapphire pendant in shape of a heart. She had two blue ribbons tied on her upper arms.

She dusted herself to get rid of the sand that may have gotten on her clothes while she was asleep. As she did this, a voice called out to her.

"Hey, Gabby!" exclaimed a voice. "You find any Thalassa shells?"

The girl, Gabby, blinked a few times before looking down at the sand around her. She spotted the pile of seashells she had been collecting earlier today. Gabby knelt down and gathered them up before running over to the one who had called to her, Kairi. (1)

Kairi smiled as she watched her sister run towards her. Gabby stopped and held out the seashells she collected to Kairi.

"I'm not sure," she said. "It was still a little dark, I just woke up, and all I know is that I have seashells."

Kairi laughed and shook her head as she looked through the seashells Gabby had collected.

"Well, at least you did something, unlike _someone_!" Kairi said, implying that that someone was Sora as she diverted her eyes on the spiky-haired boy.

Sora immediately sat up and looked sheepishly at Kairi. "Gimme a break! At least I got a start on the raft!"

Kairi held up her index finger as she listed off the things that still needed to be done on the raft. "Said raft still needs a mast, sail, more logs, and rope!"

Sora sighed and looked down as he tried to think of a way to change the subject. He quickly found one as he recalled the very reason they were building the raft was to go search where Kairi and Gabby's original home.

"Say, Kairi…what was your hometown, like?" Sora asked. "You know, where you and your sister grew up."

Kairi blinked and placed her hands behind her back as she walk towards the shore. She stared out at the ocean, exhaling as she replied, "I've told you before, I don't remember…and don't bother asking Gabby. She's forgotten everything that went on in the first two months we've lived on the island with you guys."

Gabby pouted as she whined, "So not true! I still remember calling Sora a 'Chocobo Head' when I first met him because his hair reminded me of a Chocobo!"

Sora closed his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head. "An imaginary animal that you believe to be real and has yet to be proven that exists—OOF!"

The wind was knocked out of Sora as Gabby's foot gave him a sharp kick in the stomach. Luckily, the girl wasn't wearing any shoes, or this would've been more painful to Sora. Sora clutched his stomach and glared at Gabby, who glared right back at him.

Diverting his attention back to Kairi, Sora asked, "So, nothing at all?"

Kairi shook her head and replied, "Nothing."

Gabby looked at Kairi and frowned. "Not even the Chocobo?"

Kairi made a face. "What's a Chocobo again?"

Gabby stared agape at her sister. "You forgot?! What is wrong with you?"

"Leave her alone!" Sora snapped, feeling slightly defensive of Kairi.

Gabby tightened her fists and retorted, "You stay out of this, Sora! It's a touchy subject between me and Kairi!"

Sora clamped up, his cheeks slightly red with embarrassment.

Gabby nodded her head firmly and looked back at her sister. "Kai…ever since we started living here, you've been trying less and less to remember…"

Kairi frowned. "I'm sorry…but I'm afraid."

Gabby arched her brow. "Afraid of what?"

Kairi looked at Gabby. "Remembering…what if it's something bad? You have any idea how terrible it would be to only remember the bad things?"

Gabby frowned. "When you put it that way…I'm sorry for getting mad at you. I guess I overreacted…"

Kairi smiled and waved her hand at Gabby. "Don't worry about it!"

Sora looked questioningly at Kairi and Gabby. "You two are very passive when you two are close to fighting with each other."

Kairi shrugged. "Eh, we try not to fight with each other…"

"When we're not in school," Gabby quickly added. "At least in school, we'll get a grade for it…we're sorta behind on stealth."

And such is the way of one of the many grading systems D.I. (Destiny Islands) Academy had. Fighting with your schoolmates will not get you in trouble, in fact, it is encouraged, especially when one has bad grades, so long as one doesn't attempt to kill anyone or do it for bad intentions. In most cases, those with somewhat bad grades will partner up with each other and fight each other to earn themselves credits to raise their grade. (2)

Sora knew that from experience as he and Tidus teamed up when they bombed the agility test. "True…So…Do you ever want to go back?"

Kairi gave a moment of thought before saying, "Well, I'm happy here…Sora, why don't you ask Gabby? I'm sure she has a better answer since she seems to remember more than me…"

Sora looked at Gabby and immediately got an answer from her. "We got awesome friends, have a new family, and have a rather quiet life around the island…what do you think?"

Sora shrugged and Gabby sighed as she added, "Of course I want to go…just to see it once, at least. After that, ask me again…"

"I'll make a mental note," Sora said, doing just that.

Gabby looked questioningly at Sora. "What about you?"

Sora grinned as he turned to the ocean, staring out at the horizon. "Well…I'd like to see it, too…Along with any other worlds out there! I want to see 'em all!"

Kairi smiled and looked at Sora. "So what are we waiting for?"

Sora felt a small blush tinge his cheeks as he saw the smile Kairi gave him. He liked that smile of hers…it wasn't mischievous like Gabby's…just innocent. He blinked as he felt someone pinch his cheeks.

"Sora likes Kairi~!" chirped a familiar voice.

Sora's face turned red as he realized that Gabby was pinching his cheeks and also saying that he may have had feelings for the girl's twin sister…right in front of her.

Kairi giggled. "Wow, Sora! I didn't know that!"

Sora scowled as he grabbed Gabby's hands. He pulled Gabby's hands off his cheeks and dragged her down, managing to make her land face-first right into the sand.

THUD!

Sora snorted and crossed his arms as he saw Gabby face-down in the sand. "Teach you to mess with me."

Gabby lifted her head from the sand and looked at Sora with a devious smirk. "Your denial just makes it more obvious that you like her~!"

"No I don't!" Sora snapped as his cheeks began to redden. "Well, not in that way! You're a good friend, Kairi!"

Kairi giggled and ruffled Sora's hair. "I think you're a good friend, too!"

Gabby just grinned and crossed her arms. "Could've fooled me!"

Sora growled and decided to just ignore her. "Whatever…"

"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" a voice called out in question.

The trio turned to see a silver haired, aqua-eyed tall boy holding a log in one arm. He wore a yellow shirt mimicking a tank top with baggy blue jeans connected to suspenders with large shoes. He had on black gloves and wristbands and was the oldest out of the four teens, having been their senior by almost a whole year…he was fourteen, but in just a month, he will turn fifteen.

Compared to Sora, Gabby, and Kairi, the silver-haired teen had an even paler complexion then the three of them put together. He was also much more muscular than Sora, who was lanky in comparison.

"So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft," said the silver-haired teen.

The silver-haired teen walked towards the twin sisters, throwing the log he held in his arm at Sora as he passed by. Sora tried to catch the log, falling over on his back in the process despite his train reflexes. It wasn't his fault, the log was heavy and he wasn't prepared! Why did he have to be so damn skinny?!

"Aagh!" he exclaimed.

Riku walked up to Kairi and looked at her sternly with his hands on his hips. "And you're just as lazy as he is!"

Kairi laughed and said, "So you noticed."

Riku smirked and turned to Gabby. "Gabby…you've done your part…"

Gabby pumped her fist into the air. "Awesome! It pays to wake up at midnight and drag you and Sora out of bed to the island!"

Riku narrowed his eyes at Gabby. "I wasn't referring to that. I meant the part where you managed to find us enough logs to get a good start on the raft."

Gabby blinked a few times before she rubbed the back of her head. "Oh, well…then what was the point in dragging you and Sora here?"

Riku placed his hand on his forehead. "There wasn't…and because of you, I couldn't go back to sleep. Now my head hurts and it doesn't help that I'm wasting a perfectly good Sunday for this…"

Gabby frowned. "But I thought you wanted to make the raft…"

Riku waved it off. "Yeah, but you're making me think twice…you're lucky I finished my homework."

Gabby smiled sheepishly and held up a small jar containing a green star-shaped substance. "I got a potion, if it helps!"

Riku snatched the jar out of the brunette's hand. "Gimme that thing."

Riku immediately pulled off the cork and began to drink the substance moments after he snatched the jar out of Gabby's hand. After a few moments, he let out a content sigh as his headache's pain began to dull.

"Much better," he said before he sat down onto the sand next to Sora. "So…what now?"

Kairi laughed and clasped her hands together. "Let's just get back to working on the raft! We'll finish it together! C'mon, I'll race you guys!"

Sora and Riku looked perplexed at Kairi.

"Huh?" Sora said.

Riku looked strangely at Kairi and asked, "What, are you kidding?"

Kairi rolled her eyes and grinned as she asked, "Ready? Go!"

Sora and Riku glanced at each other.

Cue a reaction from the both of them in three…two…one…

Sora and Riku immediately stood up and started running towards a specific direction across the beach. Kairi and Gabby looked at each other, both smiling as they laughed. They then trailed after their friends as today marked the start of a great day! Oh, the fun they will have for the next few hours until sunset.

Sometime later,

And then the fun waned as Kairi designated Sora and Gabby for a fetch-quest involving gathering items for the raft. Her reasons for making the two gather the items were because she caught the two asleep on the job.

"Sometimes I hate you, Kairi," Gabby muttered as she helped Sora pick up the log that was on the sand…the same log Riku threw at him.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't Riku even bother picking this up?"

Gabby looked at Sora. "Sora…this is Riku. The reason is because…he's cool like that. That's why."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Point taken…So, I take it you know where the cloth and rope are?"

Gabby nodded as she directed Sora's attention to where a large wooden construction stood. He could see, though barely, Tidus's figure as the boy continued to swing his red stick around.

"So…you gonna try and get past him without getting noticed?" Sora had a feeling where this was heading due to Gabby's inability to successfully sneak past by anyone.

Gabby looked at Sora with a deadpanned expression. "Why do you say it as if I'm bad at sneaking behind people?"

"You are behind on stealth…" Sora remarked, remembering that fight he had with Gabby a few weeks ago. He bombed the endurance test, but only because he was very much sleep-deprived. Those damn dreams practically had him drained…

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Sora. "Why do you have to be right?"

Sora grinned. "Because it's true…"

Gabby groaned as she placed her hand on her forehead. "If I'm not back in ten minutes…you know what happened, so I suggest you go fight with Selphie."

Sora looked perplexed. "Why?"

"She's got a potion," Gabby replied. "That's why…and I'm sure you want to get back at her for what happened yesterday."

Good point…Sora still had marks from his fight with Selphie yesterday…

A few moments later,

Gabby has surprisingly made her way to the rope without Tidus not noticing her presence at all. This was probably her day, seeing as she managed to make it without bringing attention to herself because she ended up tripping.

THUD!

And look how irony manages to screw that up…

"Damn you irony…" Gabby muttered as she rubbed her arm.

While picking up the rope, some of it ended up getting tangled in her legs, so when she took a step…yeah, you can guess what happened.

"Hey, Gabby, you feeling lucky today?" Tidus asked in his usual cheery voice.

Gabby growled as she got up from the ground. "Geez fricken' Louise! So much for sneaking past you…"

Tidus turned around and grinned at Gabby. "Yeah, you always fail at sneaking past me…well, just about anyone. You are behind on stealth."

Gabby scowled. "So are you, but I don't bring it up…saying that I just did is beside the point…"

Tidus grinned. "That's because I still have a long way to go before I can even sneak past people…I ain't Solid Snake, ya know…besides, I'm only taking up Stealth for precautionary tactics. You're doing it so you can become a better Thief."

Gabby nodded her head. "True…"

"By the way, how's that going for you?" Tidus asked.

Gabby grinned as she held up Tidus's red wooden stick. "Have you noticed anything missing?"

Tidus blinked and looked at his hand, sputtering when he realized he was missing his stick. Gabby took it without him noticing…while they were talking.

"You're good," was all he could say. He was just stunned.

Gabby smiled as she gave Tidus back his stick. "I know…so, about feeling lucky…"

Tidus grinned widely "So…you up to a little competition?"

Gabby scoffed. "Is that an offer to kick your ass?"

Tidus snorted. "_Please_…like you can land a hit on me?"

Gabby took out her wooden sword, her expression one of slight irritation. "Tidus…I can beat you up without having to use a wooden sword. The only reason I don't resort to hand-to-hand combat is because I want to _avoid_ getting bruises from that stick of yours."

"I get your point…" he said. "So…let's start!"

"You're gonna rue the day you ever cross me!" Gabby said as she raised her sword.

Tidus raised up his stick. "Bring it on!"

Gabby grinned. "You asked for it!"

Meanwhile with Sora,

Sora looked at the watch on his wrist to see how long it has been since Gabby had left to get the rope. It certainly has been at least ten minutes and…wait a second… "When did I start wearing a watch?"

"Hey, that's my watch, Sora!"

Sora blinked and turned to see Wakka standing just right next to him. How did he? Wait…Sora hadn't been paying much attention in the past five minutes, so that made perfect sense as to why he didn't notice Wakka.

Sora looked at the watch on his wrist and took it off. "Oops, sorry! Here you go!"

Wakka smiled as he took the watch from Sora and placed it onto his own wrist. "Thanks, brudda! I've been lookin' for it all day!"

"Anything of importance involving that watch?" Sora asked as he looked at the watch.

Wakka smiled. "It was a birthday gift from Lulu. And you know how she gets sometimes…especially towards me."

"Speaking of Lulu, where is she?" Sora hadn't seen her in a while.

Wakka directed Sora over to the docks, where Selphie was sitting on the edge, looking at the ocean with a dreamy expression on her face. Sitting next to Selphie, was a curvy girl with a rather impressive bust size. This was Lulu, a girl of the age of fifteen going on sixteen.

Lulu was a girl with long, raven black hair and crimson red eyes. Her long, black hair was up in a knot with long braids dangling from it. She was dressed in an outlandish low-cut, fur-lined dark grey and black dress that prominently displayed her ample cleavage (which she used to store her items…no lie). She wore a huge collection of interlaced belts below the waist of her dress. She wasn't smiling at the moment, in fact, she rarely smiled. She wore a serious expression on her face as she was currently fixing up a small tear in her favorite Moogle doll. Said Moogle doll was actually her weapon she used with the power of Black Magic, usually to either channel out her magic or just make it attack when she was recharging. (3)

Lulu rarely smiled, as mentioned before, and she was often stern and scathing to most people (especially to Wakka at times). However, she was really a kind-hearted girl who was caring to others…she just had a tendency to snap at anyone who got on her last nerves. Wakka usually did that to her, but he had gotten used to it.

Sora blinked as he remember what Gabby told him…it had been more than ten minutes already and he knew where Selphie was… "Well…I'm gonna go spar with Selphie..."

Wakka stared at Sora and grinned. "Gettin' back at her for that ass whooping she gave you yesterday?"

Sora blinked, his expression blanking out afterwards. "…Shut up."

Wakka laughed as Sora walked towards Selphie.

Meanwhile with Selphie,

Selphie looked curiously at Lulu. "So, Lulu…how are you and Wakka doing?"

"Why must you ask that?" Lulu asked as she stitched up her Moogle doll. "You know that I think he is an idiot…"

Selphie kicked her foot up. "Well, I think you don't really think he's an idiot…you did give him a watch for his birthday. And I know, for a fact, that that Moogle doll you're fixing up is the very same one Wakka gave you when you were just five years old."

Lulu felt her face start to heat up, but she waved it off. "It's nothing."

Selphie giggled and closed her eyes as she felt a pleasant breeze stir up. "Aah, the breeze feels great…"

Lulu paused for a moment and closed her eyes as her lips formed into a small smile. "That it does."

"What about you, Sora?" Selphie asked as she smiled at the spiky-haired boy.

Sora froze in his tracks as the green-eyed brunette looked at him. "Uh…sure…yeah…Ehehe…"

Selphie stood up and hopped off the docks, brushing the skirt of her dress before walking over to Sora. She looked up at him.

"What're you up to these days?" she asked. "We never see you, much…"

Lulu nodded as she used her teeth to snip off the thread on her needle. "Save for school, but Selphie does have a point…what are you, Riku, Kairi, and Gabby up to?"

"Well, we're gonna look for the world Kairi and Gabby came from," Sora answered. "We're building a raft for that."

Lulu arched her brow. "So that's it…well, just to let you know, if something goes wrong, I will know and I will personally drag you guys back."

Sora nodded. "That's pretty much what we were hoping you would do."

"Why are building a raft?" Selphie asked before gesturing at the boats at the side of the dock. "Why don't you take a boat?"

Sora blinked a few times and slapped his hand onto his forehead. "Why didn't I think of that? Well, too late for that…we're already too far into building the raft." (4)

"Well, sucks for you!" Selphie chirped. "So, what did you really come over here for?"

Sora gulped as he looked at the jump rope tied around Selphie's waist. Taking out his wooden sword, he backed up and pointed it right at Selphie.

"Wanna duel?" he asked.

Selphie blinked and grinned widely as she untied her jump rope around her waist. "All right! Now you're talking!"

Lulu stared at the two younger kids and sighed as she stood up. "I'll be the referee…try not to get too hurt. You know how much my White Magic is bad."

Selphie and Sora nodded. "Okay!"

Back with Gabby,

Tidus crouched down in defeat and wailed, "Aw, man! I'm really off today…"

Gabby smiled proudly in victory as she had won that battle! Now to take the rope back to Sora and—

"You ready?!" exclaimed a voice.

Gabby blinked and looked at the beach where she saw Sora currently avoiding Selphie's Evil Jump Rope of Doom…she kids you not, that's what Selphie named her jump rope. She was three years-old at the time, give her a break!

Sora blocked Selphie's jump rope with his wooden sword and deflected it right back at her, the jump rope's wooden end hitting Selphie right on the head…right after making her spin around a few times.

"Ow!" she yelped.

Selphie took a moment to clutch her head in pain as she tried to snap out of her current daze. This was the third time Sora did this to her…it was painful and dazing! She was so gonna give to him!

"Fight's over," Lulu suddenly said. "Sora wins and Selphie…sorry, but you lost."

Selphie stood up and tightened her fists as she stamped her foot on the sand in rage. She threw a small fit before whining, "Oh, I can't believe I lost!"

"I can!" said a rather amused voice.

Selphie looked up and pouted when she saw Tidus and Gabby walking towards the beach she, Sora, and Wakka were on. Tidus was wearing a very amused grin as he stared at Selphie.

"Oh, shut up, Tidus!" Selphie snapped. "At least I didn't get beat up by a girl shorter than me by an inch or two!"

Tidus was taken aback with Selphie's comment. Sure, he was barely four and a half feet tall, but Selphie didn't have to make it seem _that_ bad! In fact, Selphie was shorter than him and Gabby, who just so happen to be exactly three inches shorter than him!

Tidus rubbed the back of his head and frowned. "Hey, that was uncalled for…"

Selphie crossed her arms and turned her head away. She never noticed Wakka walking up to her until a blitzball hit her right on the head. She yelped and clutched her head in pain as Wakka looked at her sternly.

"Tidus is right, that was uncalled for," Wakka said. "And I wouldn't be talking mess if I were you. Didn't you just lose to Sora?"

"And what's wrong about being shorter than you by a few inches?" Gabby asked, frowning.

Really, now…Selphie just _had_ to say that. Ever since Gabby stopped growing when she turned ten, her height had been a bit of a touchy subject since she had trouble wielding a sword that had a decent reach without overthrowing her balance.

"_Thinking of it now, I think this may be why I want to be a Thief-slash-Warrior,"_ she thought. Her small height _did_ give her the advantage as did her strength…

Selphie frowned and said, "Okay, I'm sorry! Can you guys get off my back, now?"

Tidus blinked and grinned. "Only if you beat me!"

Selphie looked at Tidus and took out her jump rope. "You're on!"

Both kids ran onto the beach and began to spar, leaving Sora, Gabby, Lulu, and Wakka to sigh in dismay.

"Those kids…" Sora sighed.

"Really a handful to take care of," Lulu remarked, feeling rather worn out.

Wakka grinned widely. "But, hey! I'm not complaining. Catch you later!"

Wakka waved at Sora and Gabby before running over to Tidus and Selphie to keep a close eye on their sparring. Lulu turned to Sora and Gabby, bowing at them before walking after Wakka.

After dropping off the items they had over to Kairi, Sora and Gabby went to search for the last thing on their list of items to find: a log. It just so happened they found one very quickly, however…the location of the log was rather inconvenient.

Sora and Gabby stared at the small island that was just a few feet away from them across the bridge they were standing right on. On the other side of the bridge was a small island that had a few trees with coconuts. Right by one of the many trees on the ground, was a lone log. All might've seemed well, except one thing… Sitting on a crooked tree with yellow star-shaped fruit, was Riku.

"You wanna give it a go?" Gabby asked Sora.

Sora shook his head and waved his hands around. "Hell no! I just managed to get our scored tied at 10 to 10."

Gabby arched her brow. "You mean the one you two just started keeping a few months ago?"

Sora crossed his arms and nodded his head. "The very same…What's your score?"

Gabby puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms. "7 to 8…Don't you dare smile!"

Too late, Sora was already smiling wide, now laughing with the fact that Gabby was angry. One could really never take the girl seriously when she was angry. Gabby growled and started to walk onto the bridge, making her way towards the small island. She didn't really care if she managed to make it past Riku without getting noticed, hell! All she wanted to do was let out all the pent up anger she had at the current moment.

Though, for not even trying to sneak past the silver-haired teen, Gabby actually made it to the log and was about ready to take a step onto the bridge when—

"Think you can sneak past me, huh?" Riku didn't even bother turning around until after he heard Gabby's reaction.

"Dammit!" Gabby swore. "I wasn't even trying and actually almost made it! This sucks!"

Gabby dropped the log and crossed her arms as she tried to ignore the smirk on Riku's face.

"So did you give everything we need for the raft to Kairi?" he asked. "I already gave my stuff to Kairi."

Gabby narrowed her eyes. "I was about to until you started talking…"

Riku's smirk widened as he took out his wooden sword. "Hey, Gabby, how about a quick round? Grab your sword."

As much as Gabby would've loved to said no as to avoid a beating in front of everyone on the island (word travels fast when you're challenging Riku), her pride and pent up rage got the better of her as Riku smiled at her cockily. She took out her wooden sword and immediately charged at Riku.

"You're on!" she exclaimed.

Back on the other side of the bridge,

Sora sighed in dismay as he watched Riku and Gabby spar with each other. It had only been a few minutes when he heard Selphie call out to him. He looked down and saw that Selphie, Wakka, Lulu, and Tidus were just right below him under the bridge.

"What's going on?" asked Selphie.

Sora sighed. "Only Gabby and Riku fighting each other…"

Tidus snorted as he placed his red stick behind his back. "She doesn't have a chance. Riku beat all of us…even when we teamed up."

Sora blinked, his eyes widening as he exclaimed, "Wait a minute…he even beat Lulu?!"

Wakka nodded as he tossed up his blitzball and caught it as it fell down. "Ya, we never had a chance."

Lulu nodded. "I never thought defeat could be this demeaning."

Wakka grinned as he brought his hand down on Lulu's shoulder. "Oh, c'mon, Lulu…it wasn't that bad! Losing just tells us that we need to train even harder."

Lulu narrowed her eyes at Wakka as she felt his hand on her bare shoulder…his _hand_. Lulu grasped her Moogle doll as she focused on something small and hot…

"Aaagh!" exclaimed Wakka.

Wakka dropped his blitzball as it suddenly burst into flames…that weren't his. Lulu had just cast a small Fire spell on Wakka's blitzball, burning the older teen slightly. Wakka kicked sand onto his blitzball, quickly putting out the fire. Afterwards, Wakka looked nervously at Lulu.

"What was that for?" he asked.

Lulu glared at Wakka. "Don't touch me…"

Wakka held up his hands in his defense. "All right, just don't burn me!"

Selphie and Tidus laughed as they rarely ever saw Wakka this nervous. Only Lulu could make him this nervous…her, and a Blitzball game at times. Sora just smiled and focused his attention on the battle between Riku and Gabby. He knew that anyone up against Riku barely even had a 1% chance at winning, but if anyone ever told that to Gabby, she'd probably say that it was fifty/fifty instead.

"You know, thinking about it now…this is Gabby," said Sora. "She's not gonna back down that easily."

Lulu, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie looked at Sora. He had a point…Gabby was known for being stubborn.

"She's like Lulu and Kairi combined…only without the dolls," said Sora. "No offense, Lulu!"

Lulu just nodded. She didn't mind…it was just a simple comparison.

Tidus blinked a few times before saying, "Now that I think about it…she is kinda like Lulu…some times."

Wakka nodded as he added, without clearly thinking, "Only not as scary."

"True," Selphie, Tidus, and Sora agreed.

**DOT DOT DOT…**

Now that time, Lulu _did_ mind…and it showed! Wakka, Selphie, Tidus, and Sora began to quickly run for their lives as Lulu started lobbing fireballs and small bolts of lightning.

"You want scary, I'll give you scary!" exclaimed Lulu.

"We're sorry!" exclaimed Wakka.

"Yeah, we didn't mean it!" Tidus added.

Selphie cried. "Please stop trying to kill us!"

"Gah!" yelled Sora.

Back with Riku and Gabby,

Riku smirked as he lifted up his sword, his body poised for battle. "Bring it, short stuff!"

"I'm going to make you regret ever calling me that!" Gabby exclaimed as she lunged at Riku.

Riku jumped back, dodging a hit from Gabby's sword that was aimed at his stomach. In retaliation, he decided to return the favor by dealing the same hit Gabby would've dealt to his stomach, only unlike her, he landed a successful hit. Gabby's eyes widened as the wind was knocked right out of her from the hard blow dealt to her stomach.

Riku backed off to let the smaller girl recover for a few moments since they fought fairly…okay, most of the time they did! But they knew better than to strike a person when they were down. Gabby began to stand up, her left arm covering her stomach.

"I'm _so_ gonna be feeling that in the morning…" said Gabby.

Riku smirked as he watched Gabby totter to the right. "Don't tell me you're giving up already."

That definitely got Gabby to come back to her senses and ignore the pain in her stomach. "You wish!"

Riku grinned. "Now that's a good girl!"

Gabby swung her sword at Riku, but he blocked it…and he did it again when she tried to attack once more. This went on for two more times until he found an opening to land a successful hit on Gabby. He swung his sword and hit Gabby, the impact sending her back into a tree. Gabby yelped hunched over to ease the pain on the place where Riku hit her. A coconut suddenly fell from the tree and landed right on the girl's head.

"Ow!" she yelped as she rubbed her head. "Riku…you…bastard…gah…"

Riku looked nervously at Gabby. "That was totally not me! That coconut fell on its own!"

Gabby shook her head and scowled at Riku. "Yeah, but you hit me into a tree, jerk! You probably did that on purpose!"

"The hit, yeah, but the tree…no," Riku admitted. "You were supposed to fall off the edge and land in the water, but the tree kinda got in the way."

Gabby blinked a few times and looked back. Sure enough, the edge was just a few inches away from the tree. Had it not been for the tree, Gabby would have fallen off the island and into the water, which would have made Riku the winner. That's how Riku mostly won his battles, if not that, then from either knocking out his opponents or beating them by sheer stamina.

"Ah…" she said as she stood up. "Well…I'm still mad at you!"

Riku made a face. "What?"

Riku was not prepared for Gabby's sudden attack. She just charged at him and kicked him right in the stomach. He staggered back and then fell onto the ground rear-first after a few steps. As he clutched his stomach, Riku noticed that Gabby was now standing in front of him, her sword's tip point right at him, aiming for his throat.

"That was for sending me into a tree," said Gabby. "Be glad I didn't whack you with my toy sword. I'm still rather miffed from the 'short stuff' comment. I prefer the term 'fun-sized' than any other synonym for the word, 'small'."

Riku arched his brow at Gabby. "What about 'petite'?"

Gabby lowered her wooden sword and thrust the tip into the ground. She thought about it for a few moments before finally replying, "An exception…Now the score's 8 to 8! How does it feel to lose to a girl like me?"

Riku got off from the ground and dusted himself before answering, "Well, I lost to a girl who looks like a ten year old, or someone possibly younger…I don't know if I should feel ashamed or just plain shocked."

Gabby's eyes narrowed at Riku. "That's it, you're dead! Hah!"

Gabby attempted to land a punch on Riku's stomach…only for the silver-haired teen to dodge. Afterwards, he grabbed the younger girl into a headlock in her confusion, and then proceeded to mash his knuckles into her scalp in the process of giving the girl a painful noogie.

Gabby's eyes widened. "No-Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Riku, quit it—gah!"

Riku's smirk widened as he continued to give the smaller girl a noogie. "C'mon, Gabby, you're stronger than that...This is for dragging me out at middle of the night from my room!"

"Riku—ow!" yelped Gabby. "Stop that—ahahaha!"

While this went on, Sora took the liberty of take the log that had been forgotten in the past hour to Kairi. As he hand Kairi the log, she smiled at him warmly.

"Thanks, Sora!" said Kairi. "I found something today, too. Here, I thought you might want it."

Kairi reached into her pocket and took out a small jar filled with two small, green star-shaped substances and a yellow crescent-shaped substance. "It's a hi-potion! Use it well! We're gonna need it tomorrow…"

Sora groaned as he remembered what tomorrow was…Monday and that meant school. They still had a few more weeks until they got out of school for the summer, an even then, they would get homework. (5) He quickly pocketed the potion and tried to think of a subject to talk to Kairi about.

"So…did you see the fight between Riku and your sister?" asked Sora.

Kairi laughed and nodded. "I sure did! Poor Riku…"

"Aren't you going to do anything to stop Riku from giving your sister a painful noogie?" asked Sora.

Kairi stretched her arms and then placed them behind her back. "Nope! That's something between her and Riku…it's best if she—oh, hey Gabby!"

Sora blinked and turned to see a messy-haired Gabby. Tears were weld up into the corners of her eyes, no doubt from the pain she experienced from receiving a noogie from Riku. Damn, that guy was strong…

"W-Where the hell _were_ you guys?" asked Gabby.

Kairi stayed quiet and played innocent, leaving Sora to do the answering. "I was giving Kairi the log you forgot about, no thanks to you fighting Riku."

"And you didn't bother helping me out?" Gabby said, her voice almost cracking. "Man, you suck…"

"You brought that onto yourself, kid," said a voice.

Gabby's eyes widened as she immediately hid behind Kairi, carefully peering out from behind her sister's shoulder to see who had spoke. It was Riku, who wore a rather satisfied grin on his face. Kairi laughed and patted Gabby on the head to reassure her.

"Are you guys tired?" asked Kairi. "Want to call it a day? It would be best to go home early…we have school tomorrow."

Sora looked out to see that the sky was beginning to darken and the sun was starting to set. He heard Riku yawn loudly, most likely from the fact that thanks to Gabby, he didn't get much sleep. It was a wonder the silver-haired teen didn't pass out on the sand.

"Yeah, let's go home," said Sora. "I still gotta finish some homework.

Kairi nodded as she placed her hand on Riku's shoulder. "Okay, it is getting late. I don't think Riku can stay awake any longer…We'll finish up tomorrow."

Riku was about to protest until he saw Kairi's stern stare directed right at him. He blinked and gave a solemn nod in response.

A few moments later on the mini-island where the battle between Gabby and Riku took place,

Sora, Gabby, and Kairi were sitting on top of the crooked palm tree. Riku, unlike his friends, had his back against the crooked palm tree. The four of them had their gaze focused on the sun setting amongst the horizon, giving the sea a beautiful translucent orange and gold color.

"So, the girls' home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked, looking at his friends.

Kairi placed her hands on her legs as she looked out at the sunset. Her and her sister's home had to be somewhere out there…

"Could be," said Riku. "We'll never know by staying here."

Sora looked at Riku. "But how far could a raft take us?"

Riku shrugged. "Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"Lulu has our back," said Sora. "She'll drag us back if we're in trouble."

"And we have her, as well," said Riku.

"So suppose you get to another world," Kairi said, giggling afterwards. "What would you do there?"

Riku stayed silent for a full minute before speaking, "Well, I haven't really thought about it."

Gabby snorted. "Now _that's_ the understatement of the century."

Riku narrowed his eyes into aqua orbs as he stared at Gabby with a deadpanned expression. "Do you want me to give you a full-blown noogie this time?"

Gabby's eyes immediately widened at the threat. "I'll be good!"

Riku nodded his head once in approval. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Gabby scowled and crossed her arms. _"Prick…"_

"Anyways…" Riku continued. "I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds… Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Riku looked at Sora, Gabby, and Kairi. Sora turned onto his back and lied against the tree.

"I don't know," said Sora.

"Exactly," Riku said, staring back out at the sunset. "That's why we need to go out there and find out."

Riku stood up and started walking around. "Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff…we never get the action like the adults do."

"But we do have to deal with summoning gone wrong," Gabby interjected.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, but that's about it…"

"Say, Riku…didn't you say someone from the islands left this world long ago?" said Sora. "Where did he go?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know, but all I know is that he is no longer in this world…which means that there is way to travel to other worlds. So let's go…if he could do it, then we can as well." (6)

Kairi smiled. "You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?"

"Another understatement!" chirped Gabby.

Riku shot a glare at Gabby that held the suggestion that if she kept going on; he _was_ going to _jump_ her. Gabby clamped up and rubbed the back of her head as she tried to avoid Riku's stare. Riku sighed and looked at Kairi.

"Thanks to you…("Ahem," said Gabby.)…and your sister," said Riku. "If you two hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this…especially since you would have never confirmed my assumption about that man."

"Lies!" said Gabby. "It was part of Sora's sarcasm that got you to think of the idea of the raft!"

"Same difference," said Riku. "You're just acknowledging the fact that Sora deserves the credit. Anyways…Kairi, Gabby…thanks."

"You're welcome," said Kairi.

Gabby crossed her arms and turned her head. "Hmph, whatever… I'm still mad at you for knocking me into that tree."

"And I'm still mad at you for dragging me out of my room in the middle of the night," Riku countered. He was never going to let that go.

From there, a small argument between Gabby and Riku began for the next few minutes before Kairi broke them up. Afterwards, the quartet started to make their way onto the bridge, Gabby and Kairi were ahead of Riku and Sora. Sora was just walking forward when Riku called to him.

"Sora."

Sora turned around and immediately caught a yellow, star-shaped fruit Riku had just thrown at him. Riku grinned and pointed at the star-shaped fruit.

"You wanted one, didn't you?" he asked.

Sora looked at the fruit in his hands, perplexed. "A Paopu fruit…?"

Riku started walking towards Sora as he explained. "If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what."

Sora narrowed his eyes as he stared at the fruit. "Where'd you get that off from, Selphie?"

Riku passed by Sora, his smirk widening as despite the boy's disbelief, he was still staring at the fruit in wonder.

"C'mon, I know you want to try it," teased Riku.

"What are you talking—" Sora paused and then realized what Riku was implying.

Riku laughed at Sora's flustered reaction. Sora stared at the fruit again and back at Riku, his face now slightly red in embarrassment. He threw the Paopu fruit into the water and began to chase after Riku, who started running for it.

"Riku!" Sora was so going to get him for this!

Riku laughed as he picked up the pace, Sora about ready to jump him as he started gaining on the silver-haired boy. So ends yet another day in the life of the Destiny Island gang.

…

* * *

Somewhere in a different world than Destiny Islands,

In a huge unique blue and white castle, a white-feathered anthropomorphic duck with a yellow-orange bill and legs of the same color was walking down the colonnade in the castle. The duck wore a tall, dark blue hat with a gold brim that resembled a stereotypical witch's hat with a tip that curled in a very angular fashion. He wore a long, navy jacket with a blue addition to the bottom part that covered the lower half of his body. The sleeves were long and resembled those of a sweater, sporting vertical creases. The jacket had two large, yellow buttons down the front with a gold-lined pattern of ovals and a blue belt tied around the waist.

The duck was making his way through the colonnade, passing my some magically animated brooms carrying buckets in both of their hands (yes, they had hands and arms). The duck stopped right in front of a giant, grand purple door and cleared his throat before knocking on the left side of the door a few times. A smaller door opened forward and the duck walked right through it, entering the audience chamber. At the end of the audience chamber was a throne…that was about the only thing residing within the enormous room.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," the duck said as he headed towards the throne.

The duck kept walking towards the throne, not once noticing that there wasn't anyone sitting in the throne.

"It's nice to see you this morn—" the duck was cut off as he finally noticed that there was no one sitting in the throne. Startled and surprised, he shrieked out, "What?!"

A yellow dog with a green collar popped out from behind the throne, looking curiously at the duck after hearing his outburst. In the dog's mouth, he held a letter with a green tri-circular emblem on it. The duck took great interest in the letter and walked over to the dog.

The duck took the letter and began reading it, his eyes moving left to right as he read the letter's contents.

Some moments later…

"WAAAAAK!" exclaimed the duck.

The duck came running out of the audience chamber in a streak of panic. He ran down the colonnade, not once slowing down his pace. He soon ran out of the castle and into a huge courtyard with various hedges in the shapes of various anthropomorphic animals.

Lying on the grass by a hedge trimmed into the shape of a miniature castle, was a black-furred anthropomorphic dog with droopy ears, asleep. He wore an outfit resembling that of a knights…well, in his case, he wore the uniform suitable to confirm his status and Captain of the Royal Knights of this castle.

The dog continued to sleep peacefully, not once even showing a sign of rousing when the duck ran over to him. The duck breathed heavily a few times to catch his breath before he began to try and shake the dog awake.

"Wake up, Goofy, wake up!" yelled the duck. "This is serious!"

The dog/Captain of the Royal Knights, Goofy, ignored the duck and continued to sleep on, snoring. Unfortunately, for him, the duck happened to be the castle's Court Magician, the one who mastered the spells of magic. The duck scowled as rage began to overtake his senses, having had it with Goofy's continuance to sleep on in a time of crisis, something that the duck needed to tell Goofy about. The duck lifted his right hand up and pointed his index finger in the air and in a last act of waking up his friend, he resorted to using a spell.

"WAA-AAK!" yelled the duck.

A lightning bolt came down on Goofy, who once again was unfortunate, being the Captain of the Royal Knights and all, he was wearing armor. And that of course just intensified the electricity of the lightning, sending it coursing through out his body. This of course, proved affective as to waking up Goofy as his body jumped up literally a few inches off the ground as he yelled, "WHOA!" (7)

Goofy's body landed back onto the grass and the dog sat up, now awake, albeit sluggish. He looked around with tired eyes, completely unfazed by the lightning. When he spotted the duck, he smiled and waved.

"Hey there, Donald," greeted Goofy. "G'morning."

The duck/Court Magician, Donald, looked at Goofy with concern, his previous fit of rage having disappeared now that Goofy was awake.

"We got a problem, Goofy!" Donald exclaimed before bringing his voice down to a whisper. "But don't tell anyone…"

Goofy blinked a few times, his expression perplexed. "Queen Minnie?"

Donald placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Not even the queen."

Goofy blinked. "Daisy?"

Goofy was evidently looking clueless to Donald, who was now mad as he shook his head a few times in a quick manner.

"NOOOO!" yelled Donald. "It's top secret!"

Goofy leaned to the side to peer out from behind Donald as he said, "G'morning, ladies."

Donald froze, his expression perplexed. "Wha?"

He slowly turned around before finding himself staring at an anthropomorphic female black-furred mouse wearing a crown and an elegant pink dress, no doubt Queen Minnie. Next to Minnie, was a, anthropomorphic white-feathered, orange-yellow billed female duck wearing a purple dress and a small crown. She was most likely Queen Minnie's lady in waiting and without a doubt, Daisy. Daisy placed her hands on her hips as she stared sternly at Donald. Donald laughed awkwardly at this as he knew…he was screwed.

So much for secrecy…

…

…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter for now… As you can see, I have changed a lot since the last time I revamped this story. I am happy to say that this will be my last revamp as I have a better grasp as to how this story is going to run! First off, school is still in session for the group…why? Just because since I made a timeline and for it to fit into this, it has to be this way…yeah, I spent an hour writing that timeline, so I ain't backing off of it! DX

Now, time for the little notes I've made!

(1) Say hello to my OC, Gabby…don't worry! She's no Mary Sue…at least, I hope she's not. DX This is gonna be hard because this story involves my first attempt at using OCs, and I, for one, have yet to grasp the concept on how to avoid making Mary Sues…I'm trying, people! DX Don't flame me! At least I'm trying to make some decent character development…okay, time for OC profile #1!

Gabrielle

Age: 13

Hair: long and chestnut brown

Eyes: Blue

Height: 4'2"

She is the twin sister of Kairi and one of the many friends of Sora and Riku. She is not much for Stealth as she can't seem to sneak behind people, but she does have good swordsmanship. She is working towards becoming a Thief-slash-Warrior due to her knack at being able to steal items and, once again, her swordsmanship and strength. Her berserk button is getting called short and not fun-sized. The issue with being called short stems from Gabby's inability to wield a sword with a decent reach without it overthrowing her balance. Between Kairi and herself, Gabby remembers the most of their original home world, however, the only thing she was able to remember are Chocobos.

If you're wondering what Chocobos are…look them up on the FF wiki.

(2) Destiny Islands Academy not only educates its residents' children, but also trains them for the outside world. Believe it or not, Destiny Islands in this story isn't as what it seems in the game…there are monsters inhabiting this world as there are usually in many Final Fantasy games. This is just to make Destiny Islands closely relatable to other Final Fantasy games. It also explains as to why Sora, Riku, Kairi, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie know how to fight…they don't spar just for fun, it's crucial to their grades. They've been learning since kindergarten, mind you!

(3) This is Lulu and no, she is not my character…she is from _Final Fantasy X_ and _X-2_. I should know because I have played _X _and she is the best Black Mage anyone can ask for and yes, she actually stores her items in her cleavage. I found it quite amusing…XD BTW, before you ask, I am a girl. I decided to add Lulu into the mix as well as a few other characters just to balance it out a bit. Lulu is here because she is Wakka's love interest…well, she was in _X_ and in _X-2_, she becomes Wakka's eventual wife and has a kid with him…yeah. Deal with it! DX

(4) Really, now…they could've used a boat, but then again, the boats seem somewhat small…yeah, whatever. It's a bit of a joke.

(5) Okay, people…before you ask, just look up the Japanese educational system. I am basing it off of that whilst tweaking it a bit…which means that these kids begin their school year in April and it ends somewhere near the end of March. These kids get out for summer break in mid June, and are out for school for 61 days before they go back to school. And what's summer vacation without homework? Remember, Twilight Town had homework over the summer…just think of _Lucky Star_, it explains a bit.

(6) I am making a reference to what Riku said to Terra in Kingdom hearts Birth by Sleep… I played the game and managed to finish Terra's story only because someone stole my PSP with BBS inside and I was nearly done with Ventus's…I know already about the whole scenario because I spoiled it for myself before the game came out in the US, but still…playing it is so much fun. Anyways, I am trying not to spoil it much since there might be people who haven't played the game yet…yeah.

(7) Metal + electricity= more conductivity which is…PAIN! Let this be a lesson to everyone, never ignore your friends who can shoot LIGHTENING BOLTS.

Okay, that is it for now and I need to get some sleep…it's Sunday and I have school tomorrow…DX Gah, here's to another week. So, for now, wait patiently!

NO FLAMES! I don't tolerate them…I do accept constructive criticism because I need to know how I suck and the advice to make it so I don't suck anymore… Trust me, I like advice…if you hate it, tell me why and NO, I am not resorting to bashing characters. I hate doing that because I find it insensitive. Anyways, reviews are just there to make me happy…yeah, that's about it. Feel free to favorite or subscribe, until next time, KD out! XD


	3. Somewhat Calm Before The Storm

The next day,

Sora yawned as he walked alongside Riku. For the first time in many weeks, he finally slept very well…and for that, Sora hated the existence that was school. Because of school, Sora couldn't stay in bed without his mother threatening to use Black Magic on him. Sora knew his mother was serious when it came to that threat, so it was onwards to school with Riku for Sora.

The two were wearing their school's male uniform, which consisted of a collared, short-sleeved white shirt that was buttoned up, a plaid sky-blue tie, dark blue pants, and black oxford shoes. The two were making their ways towards the mayor's house to meet up with Kairi and Gabby.

Sora yawned again as he slung his red school bag over his shoulder. He _really_ wanted to stay in bed and sleep…

"Why do we go to school again?" Sora asked as he placed his hands behind his head.

Riku looked at Sora as he adjusted his hold on his black school bag.

"We go to school to prepare ourselves for the outside world," Riku replied. "Remember what we're told every school year. Outside, there are monsters and such. For us to take them on and even _leave_ this island, we _have_ to go to school."

Sora yawned again. "At least we only have a few more weeks until summer vacation."

"And then it's hello summer homework," said Riku.

Sora made a face. "Bleh…I hate homework."

"Join the club," said Riku. "…also, don't blow it off by playing videogames. I don't want to have to deal with you doing everything last second and having to resort to copying my homework again."

Sora narrowed his eyes at Riku. "Blame Gabby…she's the one who drags me out of my room…"

"How do you even let her do that?" asked Riku.

"I don't know…" Sora said, shrugging. "It just _happens_…remember that time she dragged _both_ of us to her house when we were playing _Silent Hill_? Well, she dragged you to her house after she dragged me…you were needed to help out with a puzzle."

Riku nodded as he grinned. "Oh, yeah…how can you guys not even _know_ what the rubber ball _is_ for?"

Sora diverted his eyes to the side. "Lay off, it was one in the morning…"

"Those were some fun times, though, as much as I don't want to admit it," said Riku.

Sora nodded. "Though, I could've done without the whole psychological terror."

"It's _Silent Hill_, what do you expect?" said Riku.

"True enough," said Sora.

"Sora, Riku!" a voice called out.

Sora and Riku blinked as they heard their names get called out. Riku looked straight ahead and spotted Kairi and Gabby waving at him and Sora. The two had been waiting for Sora and Riku right outside of their house. They were wearing their school's female uniform, which consisted of a collared, short-sleeved white shirt (buttoned up), a sky-blue plaid tie with a matching skirt, and black oxford shoes with knee-high navy socks.

Riku and Sora looked at each other.

"Race ya?" asked Sora.

Riku grinned. "You're on!"

The two started their own little race as they dashed after Kairi and Gabby.

A few moments later,

Sora exclaimed ecstatically as he pumped his fist into the air. Riku ignored Sora, having just lost to him in their small race.

"Now the score's 11 to 10!" exclaimed Sora.

Riku looked at Sora and grinned. "It won't be for long."

Sora narrowed his eyes at Riku. "Is that a challenge?"

"Not yet," said Riku.

"If you guys are going to fight, don't do it in front of my house," said a voice. "We just had it fixed."

Riku and Sora blinked as they turned to see an older girl, about seventeen at the most, standing in between Kairi and Gabby. The girl had short, light brown hair tied up in a ponytail and green eyes. She wore a collared, short-sleeved white shirt that was buttoned up, a sky-blue plaid tie with a matching skirt, and black penny loafers with knee-high navy stockings. She wore the basic female school uniform, which Gabby and Kairi were also wearing, with some differences, though.

Kairi wore longer stockings, almost thigh-length in length. She also had her shirt's sleeves rolled up and her tie was loosened up slightly. Her skirt was slightly shorter than the older girl's, whose skirt stopped just above her knees.

Gabby, on the other hand, wore mid-thigh navy blue leggings under her skirt. She didn't roll up her sleeves like Kairi, but she did have her tie slightly loosened up. Gabby also had her hair up in a high ponytail with some of her long, side bangs sticking out, framing her face. Her blue ribbons were no longer tied onto her upper arms, but had one of them tied around her ponytail and the other around her left wrist.

"Hey, Cassie!" said Sora.

The older girl was Cassie, the older sister of both Gabby and Kairi. Unlike the two, she wasn't adopted and was the biological daughter of Gabby and Kairi's adoptive parents. (1)

"Oh, hey Sora," said Cassie. "Hey, do you mind if I walk to school with you?"

Sometime later,

Sora, Riku, and Gabby were having a discussion about weapons whilst Kairi talked to Cassie, who currently had her nose in a book.

"What are you reading?" asked Kairi.

"I'm studying for my Magic test…" Cassie answered without looking away from her book. "I'm still not sure whether I want to be a Blue Mage, a Red Mage, a Black Mage, or a White Mage, like Yuna."

"Well, Yuna's also a summoner…you can try that," Kairi suggested.

Cassie nodded. "Yeah, but I don't just want to just be support…I want to also defend myself, not just heal. Remember the trade-offs Mages have…"

Kairi blinked and nodded. Every job class had a trade off, but the Mage job class had different trade-offs depending on type of Mage a person was. Any Mage can use both Black and White Magic, as Blue Magic is exclusive only to the Blue Mages. However, the trade off for using both Black and White Magic is that if a Mage uses Magic out of their class, such as a Black Mage using White Magic…their magic count (or points, in this case) drains at larger intervals with each use and their energy is also drained as well.

Black Mages specialized mainly in offensive magic and, like all Mages, they lacked low defense in exchange for high magical stats. White Mages were polar opposites of what Black Mages were as they specialized in healing and defensive magic as well as summoning magic, which was usually the reason why most White Mages were also Summoners. Blue Mages gained attacks that are exclusive to enemies, and had the offense and defense most Mages lacked.

Red Mages, on the other hand, are the most versatile of classes as they are able to cast both Black and White Magic and equip armor that is deemed useless to the Black and White Mage class. However, the Red Mage's versatility comes at a high price: their stats are usually low, and they cannot cast higher level spells or use stronger equipment. They can learn many spells, but not the strongest, and equip some heavy armor, but not all of it. It was this reason as to why Red Mages are considered the jack-of-all-trades, but a master to none. (2)

In Cassie's case, she had an extremely high magic count (or points, as it was usually called), meaning she was able to cast numerous amounts of spells before she had to charge and take an ether. Her high magic points were most likely inherited from her mother, who came from a family of Blue Mages and was a Mystic Knight, meaning she was both skilled in Magic _and_ swordsmanship. Cassie may have taken after her father, a Gunner, for the most part, as she had extremely high accuracy. However, she and her father both lacked the one thing her mother had: attack.

That left Cassie out for most physically offensive classes and left her the choice of choosing the Mage class. However, which Mage she wanted to be…she still had yet to choose.

"Maybe you should become an Onion Knight," Sora suggested, having heard the discussion between Kairi and Cassie.

Cassie looked at Sora strangely. "Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how long I have to train? Besides, I'm too old to be an Onion Knight…"

"Not necessarily," said Riku. "Onion Knights can start out as old as you."

"Yeah, but I don't want to be fricken' twenty-six when my stats finally jump up!" said Cassie. "I'll just be deadweight until then! Gah…maybe I should become a Blue Mage like my mom's family or a Gunner like Dad…"

"What about a Scholar?" Gabby suggested. "You can use both Black and White Magic…and the only trade-off is a lack in physical offense, which you don't have to worry about!"

Cassie blinked as she stared at Gabby. "Ya know…that might just do it. For now, I'm still not too sure…what will I do after? I don't wanna leave the islands…"

Kairi placed her hand on Cassie's shoulder. "Cheer up! You still have a long way before you can start thinking about that!"

Cassie looked at Kairi and nodded. "Yeah, I guess…so, what's going on lately on the island?"

Sometime later inside school,

Sora ran down the hallway, moving aside to avoid incoming students who were walking about. He made a left turn around a corner and dashed into an open room, which just so happened to be where his first period class was located in. He immediately shut the door behind him, ignoring the strange looks his classmates gave him. Riku was already sitting at his desk and currently staring questioningly at Sora.

"What the heck are you…never mind, I don't wanna know," Riku said, deciding it was best not to ask.

Sora looked at Riku and sputtered. "How the heck did you make it here before me?"

"I used the window," Riku said, gesturing at an open window in the classroom. "So, what's wrong? You look…tense."

Sora dashed over to Riku's side and grabbed the silver-haired boy by his side. "If anyone asks, you never saw me…"

"Sora!" yelled a voice. "Where the hell are you?"

Sora's eyes widened as he turned and saw Gabby standing at the doorway. "Crud…she's here!"

Riku arched his brow. "Gabby…? What is it this time?"

Sora didn't bother answering Riku as he made a dash for the window…only for him to suddenly get tackled onto the floor by Gabby. Sora blanked out for a few seconds and when he finally came to, the first thing he noticed was that Gabby was sitting on top of him. She immediately grabbed him around the neck as she placed a sky-blue plaid tie around the collar of his shirt.

"Put on the damn tie!" exclaimed Gabby. "If I'm wearing a tie, you're wearing one as well!"

Sora clenched his teeth as he tried to push Gabby off of himself. Riku was right…she was heavy. Or maybe it was because she was _right_ on his stomach!

"I don't wanna!" exclaimed Sora. "Get off me, now!"

Gabby growled. "Not until you put on the tie!"

Riku sweat dropped as he watched a rather pointless argument between Sora and Gabby ensue. "Sora…just put on the damn tie, or better yet, let her do it. You might wanna hurry since you're kinda in an awkward position and Seymour will be here any second and—"

"What…the…hell?" said a voice.

Sora, Gabby, and Riku turned to the doorway to see a young, blue-eyed man with light blue hair that had two locks similar in appearance to horns running down his back, and a large bang of hair falling over his face. He was fairly tall in height and seemed to be around seventeen or eighteen in age, but there was something about him that didn't make him exactly human…well, fully. The veins on his face were highly pronounced and his fingers were more pointed than a human's should be.

It was a fact that Seymour Guado was not fully human as he was actually a Guado-human hybrid. Seymour Guado was known for being an actual descendent of the original Seymour Guado, whom was born from Jyscal Guado, the leader of the Guado, and a human woman in an attempt to foster a friendship between the Guado and the human races (Yevonites at the time).

It was a rocky attempt, however, through the successful cooperation of Destiny Islands' past historic figures in the, the original Seymour Guado managed to find a place for himself as both a savior (like the other historic figures he traveled with) and an honorable leader of the Guado. For what reason he was considered a savior…that is a story to be told some other time. (3)

* * *

A/N Be sure to READ the reference note, otherwise, if you send me a review or PM saying I got the Seymour's place wrong…I'll tell you this. There is a reason this story is **AU**.

* * *

For now, the current Seymour Guado was nothing like his ancestor and was more of a normal school kid… Well, he happened to be a star-student and the top of his class, but aside from that, just your average school kid…and along with that, the most popular boy amongst half of the female school population. He was as popular amongst them as Riku, and like him, he also rejected every confession given to him. This is the life of a heartbreaker that is Seymour Guado…

Who was currently staring at the somewhat compromising position Sora and Gabby were in. Sora just blinked, nearly breaking into a cold sweat when Seymour's blue eyes stared coldly into his. Seymour was obviously not pleased…

"It's not what it looks like!" exclaimed Sora.

Seymour arched his brow. "Then what is it?"

Gabby was oblivious to the compromising position she was in as she straddled Sora's waist, keeping the spiky-haired boy pinned under herself. She took Sora's current still state to her advantage as she began to tie his tie around his neck. Within a matter of seconds, she was done and with that, she promptly got off Sora and stood up, dusting off her hands afterwards.

"My job is done…" Gabby said, obviously pleased with her job done well. "We're both wearing ties…"

Sora immediately got up from the floor and looked at Seymour with a nervous expression. Seymour just stared at Sora with a blank expression before making his way to his desk. Sora left out a sigh in relief afterwards.

"_Well, I managed to survive that fight…"_ thought Sora.

Sora never knew exactly why Seymour always picked on him and took every opportunity to fight him…especially around his friends. Seymour was by no means a bully, however…in Sora's case, Sora couldn't help but disagree with that. Even so, Seymour was a bit of an off-on friend to Sora…well, more of an acquaintance. Sora really couldn't see Seymour as anything but that.

Sighing, Sora grabbed his bag off the ground and made his way towards his seat.

"_Here's to another class of Al Bhed…"_ thought Sora.

Sora sat down in his desk and dropped his bag, focusing his attention at the front of the room as he waited patiently for the bell to ring. There was still time before the teacher came in, but Sora was already drained…Gabby chased him just about _everywhere_ during her attempt to get him to wear his tie.

Sora laid his head down on his desk and decided to at least try to catch up on some sleep before the bell rang. However, before he could even close his eyes, something caught his attention. It was Seymour, again, and he was walking up to Gabby, who was currently rummaging around her school bag for her homework, which she couldn't seem to find at the moment.

"I know I put it in here, somewhere!" she exclaimed frantically. "I cannot have left it at home…"

Seymour arched his brow as he stopped right behind Gabby. "Is there something wrong?"

Gabby blinked and turned, finding herself face to face with Seymour. She blinked again before suddenly saying, "Oh, hi, Seymour, I'm just looking for my homework which I can't…seem…to…_find_! Gah!"

Gabby clenched her teeth as she turned over her school bag and dumped the contents inside onto her desk. She didn't care about the mess on her desk, all she wanted to do was find her homework!

Seymour blinked as he watched a piece of paper float onto the floor right by his foot. He knelt down on one knee and picked it up, turning it over to see that it was the assignment Gabby had been looking for. As Gabby continued tearing through the pile of papers on her desk, Seymour held out to the short brunette.

"Is this it?" he asked.

Gabby looked up and stared at the paper Seymour held out to her. She blinked once and snatched the paper out of Seymour's hand, looking at it over quickly. A smile crossed her features as she found out it was indeed the paper, or rather her homework, she had been looking for.

"Yeah, it is…so, what brings you over here?" asked Gabby.

Seymour was about to answer Gabby's question when suddenly, the bell rang. Seymour blinked and sighed as he got off the floor, making his way back to his seat as the Al Bhed language teacher, Cid Sakaguchi, walked into the room.

Cid Sakaguchi was the teacher who taught the Al Bhed language to the students of D.I. Academy. He was Al Bhed himself, the uniquely swirled pupils in his green eyes noting that. (4)

"All right, class…" Cid greeted. "Let's get to work and Seymour, get back into your seat."

"I'm going," said Seymour.

"Anyways, let's move onto today's class activity…" said Cid. "Now, I want you to partner up with your classmates and talk to each other in Al Bhed…no English."

Immediately after Cid gave out the assignment, everyone in the classroom got out of their seats to go with their friends.

A few moments later,

Sora, Riku, and Gabby had grouped up together and were now talking to each other in Al Bhed.

* * *

A/N You'll get a translation at the bottom…that, or you could copy and paste it onto the Al Bhed translator that's online. For now, DEAL! DX

* * *

"Cu fryd fyc kuehk uh padfaah oui yht Cuny?" Riku asked Gabby. "Ymm drec ujan y dea?"

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Riku. "Crid ib!"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face as he watched Gabby and Riku get into a small argument…one that was rather colorful.

"Guys…" said Sora.

Cid immediately heard Sora's response in English and said, "Cuny! E cyet hu Ahkmecr! Cbayg Al Bhed!"

Sora laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Cunno Let…"

Cid looked at Sora as he nodded his head once in satisfaction. "Jano kuut, Cuny."

Sora laughed again and diverted his attention back to Gabby and Riku. Gabby was smiling smugly at Sora whilst Riku just had an amused expression on his face.

"Uur, picdat!" said Gabby. "Cuny kud lymmat uid po daylr~!"

Sora scowled at Gabby as he snapped at her. "Crid ib!"

"Syga sa!" Gabby chirped, sticking her tongue out at Sora afterwards.

Sora stood up from his seat as he exclaimed, "Fro oui!"

SLAM!

Sora yelped as an eraser hit his forehead. He caught the eraser in his left hand as he rubbed his forehead with his right hand. He looked at the eraser and diverted his attention to Cid.

"Hu vekrdehk eh so lmyccnuus!" Cid said sternly. "Dyga ed uidceta ev oui'na kuehk du vekrd!"

Cid directed Sora and Gabby at the door.

"Dra tuun'c ujan drana!" he said.

Gabby and Sora looked at each other. Riku arched his brow at the two.

"Yna oui kuehk du vekrd un hud?" asked Riku.

Gabby crossed her arms and let out a puff of air. "Fro pudran? E's hud eh dra suut."

Sora nodded. "Cysa rana..."

"Pacetac, E ymnayto bnusecat Gyene dryd E'T vekrd ran…hud Cuny, ran," Gabby added.

Sora rolled his eyes as he sighed. "Uv luinca…"

Riku just laughed.

Sometime later,

Sora took off after hearing the whistle blow loudly. He jumped over hurdles, which were rather easy at first, but as he continued through, the height of the hurdles grew higher and higher up to the point where Sora _almost_ didn't clear one without his foot getting somewhat close to the hurdle. Luckily, for him, he managed to do it, but just _barely_… He definitely needed to work on his jumping skills a bit more…

"_I hope I don't get marked off for that…"_ thought Sora. _"Wait…I only get marked off for tripping on a hurdle…that's right."_

What Sora was currently doing was participating in his gym class's monthly test that involved the use of the obstacle course. It was used to show a student's progress as to where they were at and what they needed to work on more. Sora wore the basic male gym class uniform consisting of a white shirt with blue shorts. The girls' uniform, like the one Gabby wore, wore similar shirts, however, their bottoms consisted of blue bloomers.

Speaking of Gabby, she was currently timing Sora as he went through the obstacle course. She bit her lip as she watched Sora jump a few poles, using his hands as leverage. He never slowed down at once.

"C'mon, Sora…if you wanna beat Riku's time, keep up the good pace," she muttered.

"Sora and Riku at it again?" asked a voice.

Gabby blinked and turned to see that it was her Gym class teacher, Sabin René Figaro. (5) Sabin was a fairly tall, man in his late twenties. He wore white pants with a blue tank top and had his blond hair up in a small ponytail. He was currently watching Sora as the spiky-haired boy made his way to the six-foot tall wall.

Sora stared at the wall ahead and quickened his pace as he tried to build up momentum. This was it…there was no springboard this time to help him jump up high…he had to depend on his training for this. That, or the poles sticking out of the wall to climb up on if he didn't make it through.

"_Let's hope for the best!"_ thought Sora.

Sora sprung into the air when he was just a few feet away from the six-foot tall wall. Gabby almost dropped the stopwatch in her hand as she watched Sora's body almost make it over the wall. Sora's hands went down and in a momentary handstand, he cleared the wall with extra momentum.

"Whoa…" Gabby breathed in awe.

Sora smiled as he landed on the ground on his feet. He kept his pace and continued running, making it to the balancing log that was set over a pool of water. He bit his lip as he ran down it, using his arms to keep his balance. He continued on until he made it to a tall tower where the only way up was via a rope. Sora felt a burst of adrenaline as he grabbed the rope and started to climb up. He used all the strength he had in his upper and forearms to quickly proceed up, his legs moving from side to side but not at all helping.

Sora was at least a mile in the air before he finally made it to the top. He quickly wiped off the sweat on his brow and shivered slightly from the sudden blast of cool air. It was certainly cooler up high, but not enough to matter for Sora. It actually felt good…

Ahead of Sora, was a long elevated pathway consisting of nothing but monkey bars for Sora to climb. Sora reached for the first handlebar with one hand and used his other to reach the next. After a bit, Sora kept up a steady pace as he made his way through the monkey bars. If he fell down, he would fall into a pit of mud below him…and it was a long drop, so it would be painful.

"_Gah, better not think about that,"_ thought Sora.

After a multitude of climbing on monkey bars, Sora finally made it to the other side where he was met with a zip-line, which he had to use to make it back down. Sora rubbed his hands a few times on his shirt as he made his way to the zip-line. He stared at it, gulping when he saw that it was still a long way down.

"_Okay, just don't think about it and just do it…"_ Sora thought as he gripped the zip-line's handle.

Sora inhaled deeply and exhaled somewhat shakily. After a few seconds, he jumped off and slid down the long slope. It took all of his willpower to not scream as he made it down. His heart was racing and his hands were starting to sweat, but Sora didn't let it get the better of him. He kept his grip until he was only a couple feet from the ground before he let go and dropped down onto the ground.

Sora then made his way towards the finish, stopping when he came across the tallest of tallest walls…it was the rock wall. Sora looked at it over, biting his lip as he took in the towering height the rock wall was standing at. He could climb up it…but he didn't want to. He had a time to beat and for him to beat it, Sora had to jump over it, but how?

Sora blinked as he remembered the pole he had just conveniently hopped. An idea popped into mind and a smile crossed Sora's face as he jogged backwards.

Gabby arched her brow stared at Sora, perplexed.

"_Why not just hurry it and climb over?" _she thought. _"Is he running low on stamina?"_

Climbing that mammoth would easily take it out for Sora, but that was not the case as Sora had a rather impressive stamina.

"Just what is he up to?" Sabin asked.

Gabby shrugged, but got the gist of it when she saw Sora hop onto the top of the short pole.

"I see what the Chocobo-Head is doing!" she exclaimed.

"You still going about calling Sora a creature that has yet to be proven that exists?" asked Sabin.

Gabby narrowed her eyes at her gym teacher. "Don't make me punch you."

"Easy, little lady!" Sabin said, laughing afterwards. "Just messing with you…so what is Sora doing?"

Gabby blinked and smiled. "Just watch!"

Sora stood on top of that pole, completely balanced as he got in a stance, about ready to jump. He then jumped from the pole and landed on the top of the wall…well, he almost did, but his hands managed to grab the top of the wall. He nimbly pulled himself onto the top of the wall, where he then hopped down, landing feet first. He jogged over toward the two marked poles to the finish as his obstacle course test finally came to an end.

"Made it!" exclaimed Sora.

Sabin was impressed, as was Gabby as she had been the one keeping time. Sora ran over to Gabby and stopped in front of her. He began to do some stretches as he cooled down.

"So…what…was…my time," Sora panted.

Gabby looked at the stopwatch and let out a whistle in amazement. "Fourteen minutes exactly…!"

Sora grinned widely. "I beat Riku's time by a second! You hear that, Riku? The score's now 12 to 11!"

Riku, who was currently lounging about on the bench, just waved his hand lazily at Sora. He was still cooling down from his earlier test…still, Riku was impressed with Sora's progress. Though, Sora could've done better, but still…it was very impressive.

"All right, Sora passes with an A+!" Sabin said as he wrote Sora's time and score on his clipboard. "All right, Gabby, it's your turn…Sora, you keep her time. It's only fair you return the favor."

Sora nodded as he wiped the sweat off his brow. He did good…

"Catch!" Gabby chirped, tossing the stopwatch to Sora.

Sora caught the stopwatch in his hand and cleared the previous time on it. Gabby was warming up right now, wanting to prepare herself for what she had to go through.

"Let's see if you can break your previous record of sixteen minutes," said Sora.

Gabby nodded, but stopped as she realized Seymour was standing behind her. She turned around and blinked as she looked up at Seymour.

"Uh…what brings you here?" she asked. "Look, I have to go through an obstacle course right now and—"

Gabby was cut off as Seymour placed his index finger on her lips.

"I need to tell you something right now," said Seymour. "It won't take long…"

Gabby blinked a few times before gently swatting away Seymour's hand.

"What the heck was up with that?" she asked, somewhat confused. _"It's so unlike him…what does he want?"_

Seymour smiled as he knelt down on one knee and looked down at Gabby as he was still taller than her, even while he was kneeling down. Sora arched his brow at Seymour, wondering what he was up to.

"What's with the box in his hand?" Sora thought as he eyed the small blue box in Seymour's hand.

It was only until Seymour held out the blue box to Gabby and opened it that Sora realized what it was. Inside the open box, was a beautiful silver ring with three glittering gems on it.

"Will you marry me?" asked Seymour.

Gabby blinked again, still very much confused. She backed away a bit, not sure what she should say. Sora blinked and started the timer as Gabby ran away from Seymour.

"Well, better luck next time, Seymour," said Sora. "I think you scared her away."

Sabin laughed, having seen the whole thing. "If I were you, I'd go after her."

"I will…I'm just giving her a head start," Seymour said as he stood up.

Sora blinked and narrowed his eyes. "Okay, what's going on?"

Sabin placed his hand on Sora's shoulder and sighed. "I think I should tell you about Destiny Islands' proposal pact."

"It's still in effect?" exclaimed Sora.

Sabin blinked. "Well, forget the explaining, I'll just answer your question…yes, it is. Oi, Seymour, I think that's enough of a head start you're giving your fiancée."

Seymour nodded and immediately, he took off at an impressive speed. Aside from being a descendent to a historical figure and one of the most popular guys in school, Seymour was also known for his impressive speed, due to being a part Guado. He took the school record time on the obstacle course at twelve minutes.

Meanwhile with Gabby,

Gabby was trying her hardest to forget what had just happened as she made it through the obstacle course.

"_What the hell was that about?"_ thought Gabby.

"Running away won't solve anything!"Sora called out.

Gabby bit her lip. "I'm only thirteen!"

"That doesn't help at all, ya know!" said Sora. "I need to tell her about the proposal pact…"

It was actually not uncommon for students to propose to one another. The proposal pact gave students the right to propose to one another, assuming they have the engagement ring to propose with and the age requirement of at least fifteen to propose (the proposed has to be at least twelve to thirteen, at the youngest). Though, there was a catch…before the proposal could even go through (with either an acceptance or rejection), both students have to graduate from the academy (the age minimum of a graduate was eighteen). And even then, the proposer has to propose _again_ and _then_ the proposal goes through…assuming the proposal goes without a hitch, otherwise…better luck next time. (6)

In Gabby's case, well, she just got proposed to by Seymour Guado, the most popular guy in school who also happened to be a star student…a lot of girls would love to be in her shoes.

"_I'm just glad it wasn't Kairi,"_ Sora thought, very much relieved. "Oh, by the way, Seymour's on your trail! I suggest you don't look back!"

Gabby clenched her teeth as she suddenly got a huge urge to look back.

"Sora, you jerk!" exclaimed Gabby. "You did that on purpose!"

Sora just smirked…it wouldn't take long before Gabby looked back.

3…

2…

1…

Gabby looked back, her eyes widening as Seymour was gaining on her. She closed her eyes and fastened her pace as she made it to the six-foot tall wall.

"I hate you, Sora!" she exclaimed, suddenly springing into the air afterward.

Gabby opened her eyes and grabbed onto one of the poles sticking out at the top of the wall. She knew she couldn't make it over the wall just yet, she still needed some more training and to build up more momentum for her to do it, though Seymour was helping very much with the latter. Gabby pulled herself up onto the wall and jumped down, landing feet-first onto the ground. She kept running, not once slowing down her pace.

Meanwhile with Seymour, he was currently having the time of his life chasing after his fiancée and potential bride-to-be (assuming she said yes on decision day, which he hoped she would). It was rather amusing…never once had Gabby ever backed down on anything, save for this. He quickly caught up to her after jumping the six-foot tall wall.

"Gabby, if you just let me explain…" Seymour said.

Gabby closed her eyes and started running even faster. "No! I'm only thirteen!"

Seymour blinked, slowing down his pace as let Gabby get ahead of him.

"_Is she…aware of the proposal pact?"_ thought Seymour. _"Well, better explain it to her."_

Seymour continued running after Gabby.

Sora found all of this rather hilarious…as did Riku, who walked up to Sora after wanting to know what had just happened.

"Are you serious?" Riku said with an amused grin on his face. "He proposed?"

"Yeah, and he's chasing after her," said Sora. "If she keeps this up, she'll not only beat her own record, but probably mine as well!"

"How long do you think it'll take before Seymour catches up to her?" asked Riku.

Sora looked at Riku. "I'd give her seven minutes, seeing as Seymour's letting her get ahead of him."

"You're right…eight and a half at the most," Riku suddenly added. "Let's see which works out…"

Sora nodded.

A few minutes later,

Gabby wiped the sweat off her brow as she came across the rock wall. She blinked and looked behind her. She had managed to throw Seymour off her trail…for the moment. Seymour had caught up to her five times at least and every time he did, he tried to explain, but Gabby managed to run ahead of him.

"_Now what to do…climb the wall or jump it—jump it,"_ thought Gabby.

And then, just like Sora, Gabby hopped onto a pole she had conveniently jumped a few seconds before. She then jumped off, though, unlike Sora, she had to grab onto a few ledges jutting out of the rock wall. She climbed up the rest of the way up and then dropped down.

"_Almost there!"_ she thought.

Gabby jogged over toward the two marked poles to the finish line, smiling as she just finished her test.

"Made it!" she exclaimed. "What's my time—gah!"

Gabby let out a startled shriek as Seymour suddenly picked her off the ground in a princess carry. Gabby looked at Seymour and blinked a few times.

"How the hell did you make it here before me?" she asked.

Seymour grinned. "I may have skipped a few obstacle courses…"

"And he's part Guado…the Guado are known for their speed," Sora added as he looked at the stopwatch in his hand.

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Seymour. "I call shenanigans on that!"

"Wow…thirteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds…" said Sora. "You beat your own time as well as Riku's and mine's!"

Sabin walked up to the group whilst writing in his clipboard. "And not only that, but you also beat the girls' obstacle course record…by nearly a minute."

Gabby blinked and sighed. "Well, at least one good thing came out of this…"

"By the way, I have to tell you something involving Seymour's proposal," said Sora.

Gabby crossed her arms. "Well, this can't be right…can it?"

Riku smirked. "Actually, it is…in fact, this is how Sora's parents got together, right?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah…"

"Well, I gotta go notify your parents," said Sabin. "Any comments from either of you two?"

Gabby looked at Seymour and asked, "You mind putting me down?"

Later that day,

Gabby gripped her blue school bag tightly as she walked alongside Sora and Riku. She was obviously unpleased…well, more annoyed than pleased. The bane of her existence was currently on her left hand's ring finger, in the form of her engagement ring.

"Fricken' proposal pact…" Gabby muttered.

"Hey, remember, it's all up to you whether or not this proposal goes through!" Sora brought up, smiling afterwards.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, just say no on decision day."

Gabby held up her left hand and sighed as she looked at the ring. "Here's the thing…I'm not sure if I want to say no when that day comes…what if I actually do end up falling for him?"

"Then you found yourself a nice guy," said Riku. "I'd keep an eye out for Seymour's fangirls from now on…though, I wonder. Why did he pick you and not Yuna?"

Yuna had a better relationship with Seymour, in terms of how they knew each other and how much more their current relationship could be taken the other way. Lulu could count as another, but not as much as Yuna. Yuna was kind and gentle, and also very beautiful…Lulu was scary at times.

Gabby groaned as she slumped over. "Gee, thanks for the confidence boost…now I feel self-conscious."

Riku diverted his eyes on Gabby. "Didn't mean it that way, ya know."

Sora placed his hand on his chin. "Now that you've brought that up, why did he pick you…?"

"I'm just confused…" Gabby sighed. "I don't know what to do anymore…"

Sora held up his index finger. "I got a suggestion…just keep that ring on your finger and hope Seymour gets tired of you."

Gabby blinked and placed her hand on her chin. "That's a good idea…"

Riku blinked and scoffed. "Yeah right…Seymour went after you. I don't think he'll be giving you up anytime soon."

"Not helping, Riku!" Gabby snapped as she crossed her arms and huffed.

"Sora, Riku!" a voice called out. "Gabby!"

Sora blinked and turned, smiling when he saw that it was Kairi. Kairi quickly caught up with the trio. She turned to her sister and asked, "So how was your day."

Gabby narrowed her eyes. "I got proposed to…how's that for a day?"

Kairi blinked. "Oh, dear Yevon, who proposed?"

"Seymour…he gave me this ring," Gabby replied, holding up her left hand.

"I can't believe Seymour was even able to afford that," said Riku.

Sora placed his hand on his chin. "Well, it does explain the recent intake of jobs Seymour had taken up…"

"Heeey!" exclaimed a voice. "I heard the news!"

The group turned to see that it was Selphie, who was Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu.

A few moments later,

Gabby had her eyes narrowed as Wakka placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Congratulations!" he exclaimed, very much oblivious to Gabby's current expression.

Lulu, unlike Wakka, noticed Gabby's discontent. "…No comment."

Tidus was just surprised. "I didn't think that was possible!"

"It is…it's called the proposal pact," explained Sora. "It's how my parents ended up together."

Wakka grinned as he patted Gabby on the head. "And in time, Gabby and Seymour may end up just like them! Oh, the possibilities these two can bring…"

"Wakka, you're angering her," said Lulu.

Gabby slapped Wakka's hand away and ran up in front of the group. The group stopped walking as Gabby faced them, her hands tightened into fists and her expression very much enraged.

"Does anyone even care what I think?" she exclaimed.

…

Selphie smiled as she clasped her hands together. "I think it's romantic!"

Gabby glared at Selphie. "Shut up, Selphie!"

* * *

Sometime later,

Sora hopped off his boat and onto the docks, having just made a trip from the mainland to the islands. Riku, Kairi, and Gabby had already arrived before him to the island. Today they were going to finish working on the raft!

Sora began to make his way towards the other side for the island when he walked past Tidus and Wakka, who were currently sparring with each other. Lulu was nearby, referring the little sparring match. Selphie was right by, waiting patiently to go up against the winner of the current match.

Sora blinked and sighed. "Man, if only I wasn't working on the raft…"

He could've so taken up a challenge from the trio! But for now…he had to work on the raft…

Sigh…

Moments later,

Sora closed the door behind him. He was now in the cove on the other side of the island. Sora jumped onto the bridge leading to the other side, his foot then going through a plank of wood. Sora blinked and looked down as he took his foot out of the rotted wood.

"_We really need to fix this bridge…"_ thought Sora. "WAAHHH!"

SPLASH!

Sora had just crashed through the bridge, in the same spot he had been standing in. He had fallen into the ocean water the bridge was built over. It wasn't that deep, but for Sora, it was…he was only like an inch taller than Tidus and the water was at least five feet deep. Sora's head popped out of the water, his hair momentarily weighed down by the salt water.

"Fwaa!" he exclaimed after he inhaled. "Okay, we really need to get this bridge fixed…"

Sora sighed and decided to swim over to the other side of the bridge. So much for staying dry…what a lousy bridge!

"_Well, it is old,"_ thought Sora.

A few moments later,

Sora walked out of the water, where he was then greeted by Kairi and Riku. The two were currently working on the raft.

"So, are you gonna help us out or what?" Riku asked as he tied another log to the raft.

Sora blinked as he noticed someone was missing… "Where's Gabby?"

"She's currently collecting some provisions," Kairi replied as she tied the cloth onto the mast. "And she is also dealing with her fiancé…aside from that, I'm sure she's fine!"

* * *

Meanwhile on the eastside of the island,

Gabby muttered as she looked behind dark, damp places for some edible mushrooms. Kairi sent her to collect provisions…well, some of them.

"The minute I run into an eight-legged freak, I am done," Gabby muttered under her breath. "That, or Seymour…"

Gabby had just lost Seymour through means of taking a small passage that was big enough for her to go through. Sometimes, she was actually glad she was small…

"_Damn, now I remember why I hate being small…"_ she thought, clenching her teeth.

She still couldn't hold a sword with a decent reach…

Gabby sighed as she pushed away a boulder, finding a small cave behind it.

"_Why was there a rock in the way?" _she thought. "Hey, mushrooms!"

Gabby grinned widely as she found a couple of edible mushrooms standing right in front of her. She was just about to reach for it when, suddenly! A large spider crawled down from its spider web and hung just in front of Gabby. Gabby's eyes widened as she stared at the arachnid in front of her.

"Oh, my god!" yelled Gabby. "Spider! Spider! Oh, my god…That's a huge spider!"

Gabby barely dodged the spider as it lunged at her.

"Kill it!" Gabby screamed. "Kill it with fire! Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, Lulu…somebody help! Wahahaha—it's on me!"

Gabby kicked her foot in the air, trying to throw off the spider. The spider was very persistent and it wanted nothing by to shut Gabby up. It kept a firm grip on Gabby as it prepared for and attack and then…

"Aah!" yelped Gabby.

Gabby grimaced as she backed away, limping slightly as a throbbing pain in her leg made it somewhat difficult to walk. The spider had just bitten her…that wasn't good. At least she managed to kick the spider into the wall…but it was still alive! And it didn't seem happy… What was worse…was that Gabby started to feel something streaming within her…something that caused her to feel a burning sensation—crap.

"_I knew I should've brought my antidotes!"_ thought Gabby. _"Of all the days…"_

Gabby always carried an antidote on herself, but today…she didn't and it was the day she actually needed it.

"Oh, the cruel irony!" she wailed. "Okay, I gotta calm down…calm down, otherwise the poison…I gotta go to Lulu—gah, go away! Go away, go away!"

The spider wasn't done with Gabby…it was mad! Gabby was finding it very hard not to panic, which was very bad…she was poisoned and to make things worse, the spider was crawling after her.

"No one wants it!" she exclaimed. "No one wants it!"

She continued to back away before tripping over a small, tree root behind her. She wailed as she fell back onto the sand and before she could get up, a stunning sensation paralyzed her legs.

"_Frak…I'm gonna die!"_ thought Gabby.

This was the spider's intentions…or at least it was until everything suddenly got dark. Gabby blinked as she looked up at the sky, noticing that there was a portal of some sort in the sky. Suddenly, a chain fell down from within the portal and plunged into the ground, right in front of the spider.

The chain then began to rise, pulling up a chained, monstrous creature with a picture of what seemed to be a woman around its neck. Gabby's eyes widened as she was no longer afraid of the spider, but the monster standing before her. The creature roared as it looked at the spider in front of itself.

The creature couldn't exactly move in its chained bound form, however…it didn't need to move at all. The creature's eyes began to glow with some sort of dark energy, charging up for a few seconds. Then, in a blink of an eye…literally, the creature shot out its dark energy at the spider. The spider was instantly destroyed by the attack.

The creature stood still afterwards, not moving until a voice said, "You may go, now."

Immediately, the monster began to sink back into the ground and the sky began to clear up, the portal now gone. Gabby blinked as Seymour, her _fiancé_, walked up to her side. He knelt down and looked at Gabby.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Gabby blinked again and narrowed her eyes. "I can't feel my legs…what do you think?"

Seymour frowned. "You need to be more careful."

Gabby scowled at Seymour. "How was I supposed to know there was a spider in there?"

"That was a Gloom Widow…just be glad it wasn't a tarantula," Seymour said, ignoring Gabby's annoyance and anger. She was most likely still shocked from the spider and the creature that destroyed it. "Now, hold still and stay calm…I'll heal you up." (7)

Gabby stared at Seymour, her face turning red when he placed his hands on her leg.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

"Casting Esuna…" Seymour answered in a matter-of-factly tone as he looked at Gabby. "I don't have an antidote on me, so I'm depending on my Magic. I'm a Scholar, you know…now will you stay calm and let me concentrate?"

Gabby immediately clamped up, giving Seymour the silence he needed to concentrate. A luminescent light green, pink, some blue, and white emanated from Seymour. The light sunk into the ground and then rose up beneath Gabby, enveloping her entire body. The light quickly waned, but not before healing Gabby.

"How about now?" asked Seymour.

Gabby blinked and tried to move her leg, ecstatically exclaiming when she found out she could move it. She looked up at Seymour and blushed, somewhat embarrassed with how she treated him just a few minutes ago.

"Sorry about that…" she said sheepishly. "Didn't mean to…"

Seymour just smiled and nodded. "It's okay…I forgive you. I wouldn't blame you."

Gabby frowned and looked down as she brought her knees to her chest. She felt rather awkward around Seymour, now…and she felt a pain in her chest. She had been treating him somewhat badly ever since he proposed to her…and yet, he never got mad at her. He just kept his sincere composure and was nice to her…

It was enough to make her feel guilty.

…

…

…

"Seymour…" she said.

Seymour looked at Gabby. "Yes…?"

Gabby diverted her eyes to the side. "Thank you…"

…

…

…

* * *

Sora grunted as he climbed up a palm tree, very much annoyed that he had to collect provisions since Gabby had yet to come back from doing her job.

"_She's probably slacking off,"_ Sora thought as he continued to climb up.

Sora kept going up the tree until he reached the top, where he was now staring at the object that was on his list…a seagull's egg, a big one at that as well.

"Hello little egg…come to Uncle Sora," Sora said as he reached for the egg…only to get pecked by a seagull. "GAH!"

Sora winced as a seagull began to attack him, most likely angry at him for trying to take its egg. It was no doubt the mother gull as it kept attacking Sora until she successfully made the spiky-haired boy lose his grip and fall onto the ground. Afterwards, the mother gull made her way back to her nest and sat down on her egg, pleased with having warded away an intruder.

THUD!

Sora groaned as he stared up, having just fallen on his back, his head throbbing with pain. He sat up and rubbing his head, wincing when he came across the bump Kairi so _lovingly_ gave him yesterday…

"Okay, screw the egg…" he muttered. "I'm getting the fish…"

Moments later,

Sora waded into the water after taking off his shoes and rolling up his pants. A basket floated around him in the water as he moved around carefully, waiting patiently for a fish to come his way. A small fish began to slowly swim his way and, gently, Sora placed his hands in the water. He waited a few more moments until the fish was practically in his hands before—

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed, bringing his hands around the fish.

The fish squirmed in his hands, trying so desperately to escape his grip. Sora didn't relent and just placed the fish in the basket. However, unbeknownst to him, there was a hole in the basket and it was big enough for the fish to escape.

For the next ten minutes, Sora spent his time catching fish. He was unaware that the fish he had caught had really been the same one he kept catching since the start. It was only until he looked in the basket that Sora realized he had caught the same fish over and over again, for ten minutes…this was enough for him to throw a fit.

"Screw this!" he said, releasing the fish back into the water. _"Forget the fish…I'm getting the coconuts, at least I can't possibly fail with __**that**__ job…"_

Moments later,

Sora muttered as he closed the door behind him as he entered the cove. He was very miffed with the amount of luck he seemed to have been having lately.

"Fricken' gull…stupid basket…" he muttered. "Hey, Riku…"

Riku, who had been staring out at the horizon, turned around and smiled at Sora.

"Hey, Sora!" he said. "Sora…"

Sora looked at Riku. "What is it this _time_?"

Riku blinked as he noticed that Sora was rather miffed…

"Whoa, calm down…" said Riku. "No need for any hostility."

"I just got attacked by a seagull and spent ten minutes catching the same fish that kept escaping from a hole in the basket you gave me…" Sora said angrily. "I'm mad…don't make it worse."

Riku blinked again and sighed. "Well, then I guess you don't want to help me name the raft…"

Sora immediately snapped out of his currently enraged state after hearing Riku's comment. "Wait…the raft's _done_?"

"Yeah, it is," Riku said, inwardly smirking. "So, you wanna help me give it a name."

Sora nodded as he stared at Riku. "Yeah…do you have any names?"

Riku crossed his arms and stayed silent in deep thought for a few moments.

…

"How about the Highwind?" he suggested.

Sora blinked and narrowed his eyes. "Lame…"

Riku arched his brow at Sora, somewhat amused. "Oh, like you have a better name."

"Yeah, I do!" Sora retorted. "How about we call it Excalibur?"

Riku stared at Sora for a full minute before snickering. Sora scowled at Riku.

"What?" he said. "It's an awesome name!"

"Yeah…for a sword," Riku remarked. "How 'bout…"

"The usual?" asked Sora.

Riku tightened his fists and looked at Sora as he smiled. "Let's do it!"

A slightly irritated sigh caught the two boys' attention as they turned and saw Kairi walking towards them on the bridge. She stopped and jumped over a gap in the bridge (the same one Sora made when he fell through the bridge) before continuing on.

"You guys at it again?" asked Kairi. "All right, I'll be the judge. You two…start talking over the stakes while I hop over this…we really gotta fix this bridge."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "No kidding, I fell through that bridge earlier!"

"That was you?" asked Riku. "Wow…we really do need to fix that bridge…"

Gods know how long they left the bridge like that with its gaps in the way as well as the rotting wood that the bridge consisted of… Putting that aside, Riku and Sora began to discuss the stakes.

"If I win, uh…I'm captain!" said Sora. "And if you win…"

Riku grinned slyly and said, "I get to share the paopu with Kairi."

Sora turned to Riku and looked perplexed at him. "Huh? Riku, what the heck are you talking about?"

Riku looked at Sora, his grin widening. "Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi."

Memories of yesterday's afternoon popped up in Sora's mind as he recalled what Riku told him about the paopu fruit legend… the very same one that sounded like something that would've come from Selphie.

Sora's face began to turn red as he began to sputter. "W-W-Wait a minute…I don't like her that way!"

Riku arched his brow at Sora. "Oh, really…?"

"Yeah, really!" exclaimed Sora. "And why Kairi specifically?"

Riku crossed his arms as he began to list the reasons why he said Kairi specifically. "Well, Gabby's engaged…Selphie's not even thirteen and she'd make this awkward, which both of us don't want."

"Oh, so very much," Sora added.

Riku nodded. "…Lulu's Lulu…I'm not sure about Yuna, but I rather not involve her in this situation and Cassie's like an older sister to us."

"Good point…" said Sora.

"What, you wanted to share one with Tidus or Wakka?" Riku asked, smirking as he saw the flustered expression on Sora's face. "I didn't think you swung that way." (8)

"Riku!" snapped Sora.

Riku laughed and said, "Fine, it's Kairi, the winner gets to share a paopu with her."

Sora scowled at Riku. "Riku, I told you I'm not interested—"

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Kairi.

Sora clamped up and turned to Kairi, his face burning red from embarrassment.

"Uh…nothing…nothing at all!" he said quickly. "Can you explain the rules, now?"

Kairi nodded. "Okay, the usual rules apply: Take any route you want…the first one to tag the star-shaped tree on the other side of the cove and make it back here wins. Sounds good?"

Sora and Riku nodded, prompting Kairi to continue.

"Okay, on my count!" exclaimed Kairi. "3, 2, 1…GO!"

Sora and Riku immediately bolted the second Kairi lowered her arm.

"Outta my way, pretty boy!" exclaimed Sora.

"You're gonna have to make me, spikes!" Riku retorted.

Kairi watched in amusement as Riku and Sora made it across the bridge. She couldn't help, but wonder what the stakes were as the two were so worked up.

"Well, boys will be boys," she sighed as she decided to leave it at that.

Five minutes later,

Riku and Sora were making their way back from touching the star-shaped tree. Neither was in the lead as the two were both tied. It was only until the two made it on the bridge that the winner was officially decided…and that was when the rotted root beneath Sora finally decided to give away and made the boy crashed through the bridge…again. They _really_, _**really**_ needed to fix that bridge.

SPLASH!

Riku made it back first, leaving Sora…the loser. Sora's head popped out of the water as he spat out some seawater that got out of his mouth. He inhaled and exhaled afterward, his gaze focusing on Kairi and Riku afterwards.

"Man, now the score's 12 to 12!" Sora bemoaned.

Kairi stared at Sora and placed her hands on her hips. "Hey! Better to be tied than losing!"

Sora narrowed his eyes as he couldn't help but agree with Kairi. Still…his loss was a bit of a low blow to his pride.

"Well, I'm going back to collecting seashells," said Kairi. "See ya around, guys!"

With that said, Kairi made her way through the door. Moments after she had left, Sora got out of the water to discuss things with Riku.

"All right, a deal's a deal," said Riku. "We're naming the raft Highwind…and about the Paopu fruit…I was just messing with you! I know you like Kairi."

Sora scowled at Riku and just stayed silent. If he continued denying it any longer, the silver-haired teen will never shut up and continue on with the teasing…

Riku just laughed at Sora's reaction before ruffling the boy's hair. Sora growled as he slapped Riku's hand away.

"Screw this, I'm going back to collecting provisions!" exclaimed Sora.

A few minutes later,

Sora muttered angrily as he swung his sword against a tree, whacking the utter crap out of it to take out his anger on it…oh, and to gather some coconuts for the provisions. Suddenly, Sora dropped his sword and clutched his head as it began to throb, no thanks to one of the coconuts he had finished knocking off the tree falling onto his head…_hard_.

"Motherfu—aah!" yelled Sora. "My head…"

Okay, that was it…Sora was mad…and where the hell was Gabby? She should be helping him out…she always did when it came to coconuts…

* * *

_~Flashback~_

_THUD!_

"_Gah!" yelped Sora._

"_You, too?" asked a voice._

_Sora opened one eye and looked up to see Gabby sitting on the top of the coconut tree he had just finished whacking. In her arms, were a couple of coconuts…the ones he was looking for until a damn coconut landed on his head._

"_Gabby…what are you doing up there?" asked Sora._

"_Well, I tried doing what you did, but I stopped after the third coconut landed on my head," Gabby said, grinning as she rubbed the back of her head. "It's much easier to climb up the tree and pick or knock off the coconuts yourself, ya know! Catch!"_

_Sora blinked and flailed around a bit before deftly catching the coconuts Gabby just finished dropping. Gabby smiled and waved at him before maneuvering herself into a standing position. She was about ready to jump off onto a nearby treetop when…_

"_Oh, crap!" she exclaimed. "Lost balance—yah!"_

_Sora blinked and sidestepped as Gabby slipped and fell off the tree. She landed right in the spot he was previously standing on, so Sora managed to avoid another painful situation._

_THUD!_

_Gabby laughed in a dazed manner as she stared into space with spirals in her eyes._

"_Hahaha!" she said. "Sora…ah, a little help? I can't—I can't feel my legs!"_

_Sora diverted his eyes to the side and let out a sigh in dismay. "I'll get Lulu…"_

_~end of flashback~_

* * *

Sora blinked and shook his head. What the heck was that about? Of all the things he had to remember, why that? Hold on…

"_I think I know what to do…"_ Sora thought as he looked at the tree in front of himself. _"Maybe…she does have a point."_

Five minutes later,

Sora walked over to Kairi, who was standing on the mast nearby the seashore, carrying an armload of coconuts in his arms. He had managed to gather a lot of them by climbing up the tree and knocking them down from there. Now all he had to do was go collect some mushrooms and he was done!

"_And soon we'll all be sailing to other worlds!"_ Sora thought, grinning widely afterwards.

Kairi, who was leaning on the raft's mast, was currently crafting what seemed to be a charm of some sort made out of Thalassa shells. Thalassa shells were a unique type of shell found only on the shores of Destiny Islands.

"Kairi, I got the coconuts," said Sora.

Kairi looked up and noticed the wide grin on Sora's face. "Well, someone's happy."

"Well, yeah, we're almost done," said Sora. "All I have to do is get the water and collect some mushrooms…"

"Whatever happened to the fish and seagull egg?" Kairi asked, arching her brow at Sora.

"Look, I got attacked by a seagull trying to get that egg and there's a hole in the basket," said Sora. "We are going to have to deal with having no egg and fish."

Kairi nodded. "Fine, we'll just pitch in and get some from the mainland."

"Now that's a better idea," said Sora. "By the way, what exactly are you doing?"

Kairi blinked and looked at the craft in her hand. "Oh, I'm making a necklace out of Thalassa shells. In the old days, sailors always wore Thalassa shells."

Sora arched his brow. "Why?"

Kairi smiled and replied, "They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage…at least, that's what they told me in class. Have you seen Gabby around?"

Sora shook his head. "No…where is she?"

* * *

Meanwhile,

Gabby looked down as she walked alongside Seymour, pretty much at a loss as to what to do. Seymour had saved her life…and killed that spider with—of course!

"Say, Seymour…what was that thing?" she asked, finally breaking the silence between them.

Seymour looked down at Gabby. "Thing…? Oh, that was my Aeon, Anima."

Gabby looked questioningly at Seymour. "Aeon…Anima…? What?"

Seymour chuckled as he placed his hand on the top of Gabby's head.

"I'll let you in on it…" said Seymour. "You know what the fayth are, yes?"

Gabby nodded. "Yeah…the Children of Prayer…people who willingly had their souls sealed in statues in a state of dreaming."

"Well, Aeons are the physical realization of the fayth dreams," Seymour explained. "The fayth are able to communicate with summoners—"

"Like Yuna?" Gabby interjected.

"Not exactly," said Seymour. "The summoners I am referring to are those who were from nearly a millennium ago."

The summoners Seymour had been referring to were the ones who prayed to the Fayth within the Chamber of the Fayth. As they prayed to the Fayth, the summoners also establish a mental link…one between the fayth and the summoner. Using this link, the fayth gave their dream a physical form—an Aeon.

"Most Aeons bear some similarities in appearance to their respective fayth…" explained Seymour. "They are powerful creatures only a summoner can use in battle…"

Gabby tilted her head to the side. "So they're like summons…"

"More or less," he said. "But the difference is that Aeons are a summoner's most trusted partner. They stay with their summoner until they are dismissed or defeated…something that summons don't do. Aeons nowadays are just summons passed on from generation to generation…like Valefor for Yuna." (9)

Gabby blinked and nodded. "So Valefor is Yuna's Aeon? Wait…you said most Aeons bear some similarities to their respective fayth…what's Anima's respective fayth?"

Seymour stopped walking, causing Gabby to stop. She looked questioningly at Seymour.

"Anima's respective fayth…" he began, "Is the mother of Seymour Guado, my ancestor…"

…

"I'm sorry if I made you bring up a touchy subject…" Gabby said sheepishly as she twiddled her fingers.

"Don't be, you're my fiancée," said Seymour. "You're the only one I can really tell just about anything to…including this."

Gabby looked at Seymour. "About that…out of everyone, why me?"

Seymour arched his brow at Gabby. "Why you?"

"Why did you pick me?" she asked. "I'm nothing special…I'm not as pretty as Yuna or as…_big_ like Lulu."

Gabby patted her chest a few times after she said that, the top half of her face turning blue as reality was cruel. Seymour placed his hand on Gabby's shoulder, but she swatted it away as she turned to face him.

"I'm not even from the islands!" she exclaimed. "I'm a stranger…I have no recollection of my home except for that one animal everyone always says doesn't exist…My own sister forgot about it as well…today, my life's been nothing but a rollercoaster!"

Seymour stared at Gabby, frowning. "Gabby…you're crying."

Gabby blinked, her eyes feeling rather hot and moist. She tentatively reached for her cheek, her fingertips brushing against her face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks… Seymour was right, she was crying.

"Oh…" was all she could say.

Gabby then realized…this was the first time she had actually told somebody of her insecurities. Always tough, now…well, she didn't seem so tough. To Seymour, Gabby seemed so vulnerable…

"Heh, so much for being strong…" she laughed weakly, forcing a smile. "Huh?"

Gabby blinked as Seymour suddenly wrapped his arms around her, bringing the brunette into an embrace.

"If anything, you're much stronger than me," said Seymour. "You always seem to find something to smile about…always looking on the bright side…that's what I love about you. You are yourself…no one else."

Gabby blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes as Seymour began to stroke her hair. She couldn't help but sigh…it was there that Seymour finally answered her question.

"The reason why I picked you is because…" he said. "…I like you."

Gabby blinked a few times and frowned. She was now at an even bigger loss. What was she to do when she graduated?

…

* * *

Sometime later,

Sora sighed as he picked up a couple of mushrooms he found in between some rocks. He placed them in a small pouch Kairi had given him earlier. As he stood up, Sora found himself face to face with Selphie, who was smiling…

"_I sense imminent doom,"_ thought Sora.

"Hey, Sora!" said Selphie. "Have you heard about the legendary power of the Paopu fruit?"

Sora blinked and nodded. "Yeah, I heard it yesterday from Riku…"

Selphie closed her eyes and smiled. "Good, then you won't mind me explaining it to you!"

Sora's eyes widened…not another romanticist session! He had had enough of that crap today, especially about that damn Paopu fruit!

"Wait!" said Sora.

Selphie took out her jump rope and held it up for Sora to see. The spiky-haired boy immediately clamped up as he didn't want to get whacked with the brunette's jump rope.

"They say if you share it with someone you really care for…" said Selphie. "It binds you together forever and ever through eternity!"

Sora sweat dropped. "That's not what I heard."

"Doesn't matter, it still sounds romantic either way!" Selphie said, sighing dreamily afterwards. "I gotta try it sometime."

"Yeah, that's great, gotta go!" Sora said, giving Selphie a quick wave before walking away. _"Barely escaped that one…"_

A few moments later, Sora found himself talking to Wakka.

"So…how's your day been?" asked Sora. "Any plans?"

Wakka nodded and gestured to a partially moss-covered opening into the wall on the pathway by the waterfall.

"Me and Tidus, we are gonna do a little explorin' today," said Wakka. "You know, to the secret place at the base of that tree. There's gotta be something there, ya?"

"That reminds me…I gotta go back to looking for some mushrooms," said Sora.

Wakka laughed and tossed his blitzball up into the air and caught it as it fell down.

"Kairi got you doing all the work?" asked Wakka.

Sora crossed his arms and huffed. "No…Gabby still hasn't come back from collecting provisions. Because of her, I got the job of doing that."

Lulu, who had been nearby, overheard Sora and walked up to him and Wakka. Selphie and Tidus followed after the Black Mage, very much curious as to what she was up to.

"If you're looking for Gabby, she's with Seymour on the other side of the island," said Lulu.

Sora blinked a few times before suddenly exclaiming, "What's she doing on the other side with Seymour?"

"She got attacked by a Gloom Widow earlier," Wakka explained. "We were gonna help her out, but Seymour got to her first."

Tidus nodded as he held up his fists. "You should've seen Seymour! Man, it was overkill!" (10)

Selphie sighed dreamily. "And when he healed her using Esuna…it was so romantic…"

"But she seems so upset, now," said Tidus.

Selphie nodded. "Yeah…she was crying."

Lulu arched her brow at the two preteens. "How exactly do you know this?"

Selphie and Tidus froze as they realized they just gave themselves away. Earlier, the two had snuck back to the other side of the island to spy on the two "love birds", as Selphie called them.

…

Sora walked away from the group as Lulu and Wakka began to lecture Tidus and Selphie about respecting others privacy…well, Lulu was, Wakka just asked what happened before being struck down by a lightning bolt from Lulu. After that, Wakka became serious.

"_Seymour and Gabby…should've known that's what kept her,"_ thought Sora. _"But why was she upset?"_

And the fact that Tidus said she was crying…it bugged Sora. Sora just decided to drop it, seeing as it wasn't his problem, as he made his way towards the secret place, the area Tidus and Wakka were going to explore. Sora sighed as he lifted the moss hanging from the top of the opening. He crouched down afterwards and entered the opening into the base of the tree.

It was dark inside…and a bit cold due to the breeze picking up in the opening at the top of the base. It was most likely the perfect weather for mushrooms to grow in.

"_Excellent…"_ thought Sora. "Now, where are those mushrooms?"

Sora looked around, taking notice of the drawings on the walls of the secret place. Many of them were from previous kids that used to play on the islands until they've grown old and had families of their own. Sora knew that because the drawing of a castle he was staring at was made by his father when he was Sora's age. Some of the drawings were recent and some just a few years old (or even older)…and, hold on.

Sora arched his brow at the big brown door that stood at the end of the secret place. He walked up to it and looked around, finding no way to open it. He shrugged and looked around; smiling when he finally found what he was looking for…mushrooms! He bent down to pick them up when he noticed a drawing on the wall. It wasn't just a drawing, but it was a certain one that Sora remembered had a past and place in his memories.

The drawing was of two kids' faces, a boy and girl. His expression softened as he placed his hand on the drawing of the girl's face. It wasn't done well when compared to the drawing of the boy's, but it was done well enough for it to be recognized as a girl's face.

Memories flooded Sora's mind when he remembered what happened that day the drawings were done…the drawings he and someone else made when they were just about five years old.

* * *

~flashback~

_A young boy with somewhat spiky brown hair and blue eyes, blocked off the entrance to the secret place. He wore a white shirt with red shorts and yellow sandals. He was no older than five years old and his expression was stern as he stared at the person he was blocking off the entrance from._

_Standing in front of him, was a girl, despite her boyish looks. She was about the same age as the boy and had short hair with blue eyes. She was wearing a blue and white dress…well, a modified version of it consisting of a shorter, tattered skirt and a pair of blue shorts. The girl was staring curiously at the opening behind the boy, who just so happened to be Sora when he was just five years old._

"_C'mon!" said the girl. "Let me in!"_

_Sora shook his head and stared sternly at the girl._

"_No one's supposed to come in here!" said Sora. "So go away!"_

_The girl's eyes sparkled in wonder as her curiosity was piqued even more._

"_Wow, that's cool!" she exclaimed. "Can I see?"_

_Sora shook his head and tried to push the girl away._

"_No!" said Sora._

_The girl pouted and tightened her fists as she dug her heels into the ground and made it difficult for Sora to move her._

"_Then I'm not moving from this spot!" exclaimed the girl. "Hmph! Jerk…"_

_Sora clenched his teeth and tried even harder at pushing the girl away…only for him to end up knocking her onto the ground. The girl yelped and landed on the ground…right on her elbow, scraping it a bit. The girl yelped and clutched her elbow as it began to bleed. Sora looked at the girl, feeling guilty for having accidentally pushed her to the ground._

_The girl stared up at Sora; tears welled up in her eyes as she resisted the urge to cry. Forget crying! Crying was for crybabies! She wasn't a crybaby! She glared at Sora and yelled, "You big jerk!"_

"_I'm sorry!" said Sora. "But you wouldn't move…"_

"_Then let me go in!" said the girl. "C'mon! Pwease? Don't be mean~! You already pushed me onto the ground and now my elbow's bleeding!"_

_Sora looked at the girl as she had him stumped. And those big eyes of hers only made it even harder for Sora to say no as a twinge of guilt pained his heart._

"_Okay, fine!" said Sora. "I'll let you in because you're special!"_

_The girl blinked a few times and got off the ground while asking, "How am I special?"_

"_You're not crying…you almost beat Riku in sword fight…" began Sora. "And you're not afraid of anything!"_

"_Not true…I'm afraid of Spiders," the girl admitted._

"_And so am I, but I won't count it," said Sora. "Now, follow me!"_

_The girl's eyes sparkled in awe as she followed Sora into the secret place._

"_Yay!" she exclaimed happily. "You know, if you kept going like that…I would've actually decided to kick your butt instead of going to Riku!"_

_Sora sweat dropped as he pretty much figured that part out. He just laughed it off as he continued to lead the girl deeper into the secret place. A few moments had passed and the girl showed no sign of being afraid of the dark place or the wind howling up on the opening above them. In fact, she actually held up her wooden toy sword in her defense and asked, "I hear a monster…"_

"_Riku said it was the wind," said Sora. "But I still think it's a monster."_

"_I believe you…" said the girl._

_Sora looked at the girl with disbelief._

"_You do?" he asked._

_The girl smiled widely, showing off the little gaps her missing teeth made._

"_I never lie…well, not yet!" said the girl. "But I am not lying because I am one-hundred percent with you!"_

_Sora blinked a few times before smiling widely and saying, "Thanks!"_

_A few moments later,_

_Sora and the girl were knelt down onto the ground right next to each other, carving their own separate pictures into the wall with a rock. Every few moments, one would look at the other before going back to their carving. After a full minute, both kids were now staring at each other, sharing a moment of mutual silence and concentration as they stared into each other's face._

_Once they placed down their rocks, the two looked at each other's drawings. The girl's drawing was of Sora's face, which was done rather well. Sora's drawing was of the girl's face, though his was a bit…messy and rough._

_Sora looked at the girl, who was smirking at him._

"_Man, your drawing sucks!" she said, laughing afterwards._

_Sora blinked and pouted at the girl before tackling her onto the ground._

"_Shut up!" said Sora. "You'll pay for that!"_

_And so began the wrestling match between Sora and the girl. This would've continued on had it not been for a six year-old Riku breaking the two up. Despite their scuffle, both Sora and the girl were laughing as they looked at each other, both having been covered in dirt, their hair a full mess, and their knees and elbows covered in scrapes._

_They were a mess…but they had fun!_

~end of flash back~

* * *

A small smile formed on Sora's lips as the memory came to an end in his head. That girl…Sora wasn't exactly sure who it was as it was between Kairi and Gabby. Sora thought it was Kairi as she was more of a tomboy when she was younger.

Sora picked up a solemn rock on the ground and knelt down onto the ground to carve in an additional detail to the drawings. Sometime pass before Sora stopped and lowered the rock to get a close look at the addition he made to the picture. The addition was of his face, the one Kairi (he assumed) drew, exchanging a Paopu fruit with a picture of her face, the one he drew. It had been only a full thirty seconds when he realized something…

Kairi didn't have blue eyes… (11)

Sora clutched his head as his head began to hurt, his memories beginning to clear up afterwards. It was never Kairi who he had spent time that day with. It wasn't her who said his drawing sucked, _no_…it was **all** _Gabby_.

Sora clenched his teeth and slammed his fist into the ground. He knew Selphie's romanticist talk and Riku's teasing would get to him one day, but why like this? And it wasn't even Kairi! This was _so_ **not** _**fair**_! He screwed up big time…

Sora sighed and shook his head as he face-palmed. "I just hope she never comes here—"

Sora's eyes widened as he heard a rustle behind him. Something or someone, was behind him…

"Wh-Who's there?" he asked as he turned his head.

It wasn't something, but rather someone who was standing in back of Sora…but it wasn't who anyone he knew. The person was dressed in a brown, hooded cloak, covering his whole body. Sora didn't recognize who this person was… or if this person was even male as the person was a stranger to him.

The person in the brown hooded cloak just stood there and stared at Sora, giving the boy an ominous feeling.

"I've come to see the door to this world," said the hooded figure.

The figure's deep voice confirmed that he was indeed male, as Sora first assumed, but to Sora, it didn't really matter. The man spoke strangely of something, confusing Sora to no end.

"Huh?" was all Sora could say.

The man continued to stare at Sora. "This world has been connected."

Sora was just getting more and more confused as the man continued to speak… Sora clutched his head as it started to hurt a bit… His eyes widened as he realized something…the man had mentioned something about this world.

Sora looked up and stared at the cloaked man. "Wh-What are you talking about?"

The man continued talking in a cryptic manner. "Tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed."

Sora just arched his brow, not getting anything the man said. The man spoke something about darkness…and an eclipse… Sora clutched his head as it began to throb.

"Great…now I have a headache…" Sora thought before he scowled at the cloaked man. "Whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this!"

Sora blinked a few times, receiving no response at all from the man. His eyes widened as he just realized something.

"Wh-Where did you come from?" asked Sora. "And just who are you?"

The man ignored Sora as he continued to speak cryptically. "You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."

Sora bit his lip as he began to put two and two together. This guy was definitely from another world, no doubt about it! He knew of other worlds, from what Sora managed to catch from the man's cryptic speech.

"So, you're from another world!" said Sora.

"There is so very much to learn," the man said, ignoring Sora for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. "You understand so little."

Okay, that's it! Sora was mad! He just got called stupid, or at least he thought he did!

"Oh, yeah?" Sora said, tightening his fist. "Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!"

The man seemed amused with Sora's reaction, though only slightly.

"A meaningless effort," said the man. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

It took Sora a few moments to put two and two together before coming to a conclusion…

"Are you calling me stupid?" exclaimed Sora.

Sora scowled at the man and blinked when he noticed that the man's attention seemed to be focused on something behind him. Sora looked back carefully, taking note of the big brown door he had looked at earlier that stood in back of him. Sora then glanced back at the man, but the cloaked stranger was nowhere to be seen.

"The heck did he get here?" said Sora.

…

…

…

"Whatever," Sora said as he tried to calm his pounding heart. "That was intense…I better get these mushrooms to Kairi."

Sora walked out of the secret place moments later. Hopefully, Gabby would never think to go in there, especially after her encounter with a Gloom Widow. She'd probably stay away from dark places for a while…

"Gah!" Sora exclaimed, covering his eyes.

The bright sunlight was harsh on his eyes, caused from having been in a dark area for quite some time. Sora blinked a few times before getting accustomed with the bright lighting. He looked around, taking note of the events that went around him. Tidus and Selphie were on the small island across the bridge, sparring with Wakka as the referee. Lulu stood a few feet away from Sora under a shady palm tree, looking at her doll while she did this.

Sora was just about to make his way towards the cove when he spotted Seymour and Gabby sitting at the docks. He blinked a few times as he stared at them, noticing that Seymour seemed to have been comforting Gabby, who seemed…upset.

"_Wow, Selphie was right…she is upset,"_ he thought. _"But why?"_

…

…

…

Sora shrugged it off and began to make his way to the cove. Kairi was waiting for him…

Moments later,

Kairi smiled at Sora as he handed her the bag of mushrooms. "Hey! You got all the provisions! Well, almost all of them…"

"Yeah, I don't like getting attacked by mother gulls and catching the same fish over and over again due to a hole in the basket for ten minutes…" said Sora.

Kairi sighed and shook her head. "Whatever, we'll deal with that later…I found another item today aside from seashells!"

Kairi reached into her school bag and pulled out a small jar full of the same green substance that made up a Hi-Potion.

"Here, it's yours!" she said, holing out the healing item.

Sora quickly pocketed the item as he looked at Kairi, her smile making him blush slightly as it was aimed at him. She was always so nice to him…every time Kairi smiled at him, Sora felt funny inside and he still didn't know why! Maybe he did like her—no! No! He will not give his friends the satisfaction of learning that he _did_ in fact have a crush on Kairi! No! That was unacceptable! And—

"Hey, ya tired?" asked Kairi. "Wanna call it a day?"

Sora blinked and looked at the horizon before looking back at Kairi.

"But the sun's still out," said Sora.

Kairi smirked and said, "Then go along and entertain yourself…until the sun sets."

Sometime later, Sora barely won a fight against the whole trio that was Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie. Unfortunately, for Lulu, she had her work cut out for herself…in a bad way…at least she would have, had Seymour not been there.

Seymour had healed Sora, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie of their injuries with his White Magic. Though, of all the…why, _why_ did they have to crash into the sea shack _all_ at the _same_ time?

Riku had certainly nothing to do with it. He wasn't the one who accidentally left that log on the sand that Tidus tripped over and caused a domino effect on Selphie, Wakka, and Sora that made them crash into the sea shack, no, definitely not Riku…

* * *

Later on the docks,

Gabby, who was currently sitting at the edge of the docks, sighed as she stared at her left hand. She had just managed to get Seymour to leave her alone for the day. Seymour had left for the mainland, as did everyone, including her sister. Unlike them, Gabby had to stay on the island to watch the raft, seeing as she slacked off on her job…and drew the shortest straw. Damn straws…they were rigged…

"And I wanted to play _Dead Space_…" she sighed.

She had had a rather interesting day…in simple terms. If she had the chance, she would most likely be ranting about how much her day went from good to something so unsettling.

Gabby focused her gaze on her engagement ring, taking note of the heart-shape sapphire in between two diamonds decorating the silver ring. It was very pretty…and it did match her necklace, which had been Seymour's intention, but all it did was remind her of the choice she was going to have to make when she graduated.

Biting her lip, Gabby stood up and took the ring off her finger. She stared at the horizon and was about to throw the ring, but stopped herself in mid-swing. She sighed and held the ring up to her face.

"_I can't…"_ she thought as she put the ring back onto her left ring finger. _"I just…I just can't…"_

…

…

Sora sighed as he made his way to the docks, about ready to head back home and go to sleep. Saturday afternoon was the big day that he, Riku, Kairi, and Gabby would leave. Whatever trouble would await them, they would face it…if not, Lulu knew where to find them and bring them back. Sometimes it really paid to have a Black Mage (who was trying her hardest to improve her White magic capabilities) as a friend.

Sora ran his hand through his hair and looked out into the horizon. The sun was setting, its reflection giving the sea a beautiful gleam. He stared in awe, wondering if he and his friends managed to go to another world…would they still be able to watch the sun set. Would they?

Sora stopped in his tracks as he saw that someone sitting at the edge of the dock. It was Gabby and she seemed rather bummed. Her expression immediately changed when her gaze fell upon the sunset, her eyes sparkling with awe as she tried to make the best of what she had right now. Despite feeling rather stressed out with today's events, Gabby couldn't help but still enjoy the sunset. The sunset always got to her for some unknown reason.

The light and gleam it gave off in the water's reflection…the light reminded her of something. She didn't know what, but she did know that Sora was standing right behind her. Gabby looked back and smiled at Sora as she kicked her feet in the air.

"Hey, Sora!" said Gabby. "Come over here!"

Sora looked questioningly at Gabby, wondering what she was up to. She looked innocent…and showed no bad intention…

"Come sit with me!" she said. "C'mon, Sora…please…I had a long day."

And that was an understatement…

Sora blinked again as Gabby patted the open spot next to her on the edge of the dock. Sora shrugged and walked over, plopping down next to Gabby afterwards. A small moment of silence ensued before Gabby broke the moment.

"You know…" said Gabby. "A lot of things have changed…"

Sora looked questioningly at Gabby.

"What do you mean?" he asked, uncertain what Gabby was implying.

Gabby looked down. "Well, for one thing…I'm getting married when I graduate."

Sora frowned. "Don't say that…you're making me feel down…besides, you have a choice whether or not you want it to go."

"That's the thing…" said Gabby. "Seymour…he isn't what he first appears to be…he really does like me. No matter how badly I treat him, he always forgives me…and it hurts. I don't think I can bring myself to say no when the time comes…"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. He had no clue that it was actually that difficult for Gabby. Then again, he wasn't the one who had been proposed to…

"So, is there anything else on your mind?" he asked, hoping to change the subject.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah, Riku has also changed…"

There was something different about Riku, but she just couldn't explain it…he seemed anxious today…

Sora arched his brow at Gabby. "You okay?"

Silence…

Sora looked at Gabby for a few moments before staring back out at the sunset. Something was wrong, but he decided it'd be better to let it go then to just ask. Three minutes had passed and Sora's ears perked at the sound of a somewhat nostalgic tune begin to play. He turned to Gabby to see what it had been. In the palm of Gabby's hands playing the lullaby, was a silver, heart-shaped music box. Gabby stared into the silver music box, mesmerized by the melody that was playing.

Sora stared at the music box as he recognized it. He couldn't believe she still had it… Almost nine years back, just a few weeks after the discovery of Kairi and Gabby, Sora had found a music box at one of Destiny Island's shops. He had bought it as a gift to Gabby as a way of welcoming her to the islands since he didn't think the first gift he gave her was enough…

"So, you still have it?" he asked.

Gabby stayed silent as she continued to stare at the music box. Once the melody came to a cease, Gabby closed the music box and finally looked up at Sora. She was smiling.

"Sora, let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!" said Gabby.

Sora looked at Gabby perplexed and shocked at what she just suggested.

"Huh?" Sora said, his eyes widening.

Gabby laughed and said, "Just kidding!"

Sora blinked and arched his brow at Gabby. She sure was acting weird… His eyes widened in realization. Of course…with everything that had happened to her, Sora wouldn't be surprised if Gabby just suddenly wanted to run away.

"_I guess she feels…trapped,"_ thought Sora.

Even so, Sora couldn't help but question if this was the same girl he knew and grew up with.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked. "If I'd had a say in this, you're the one who's changed."

Gabby blinked and looked down at the music box in her hand.

"That's not true…" she said, turning to Sora. "Is it?"

Sora looked at Gabby, who seemed very concerned about that. He just smiled reassuringly at her.

"No…it's not," said Sora. "You're the same girl I met nine years ago on this island…the very same who won't stop proving that Chocobos do in fact exist…"

Gabby looked at Sora and exclaimed, "They are real!"

Sora smiled widely, giving Gabby his trademark smile (his trademark since he was three to four years old).

"That's the Gabby I know!" said Sora. "You didn't really change much…you're just reacting differently to something…never knew that all it took was a proposal."

"Please don't bring it up…" Gabby said as she looked back her music box, her hand grasping the silver heart-shaped box firmly.

…

"Sora…?" she said.

Sora looked at Gabby. "Yeah?"

Gabby diverted her eyes to the side. "Thank you…thank you so much."

Sora looked perplexed at Gabby.

"For what?" he asked, wondering what was with the sudden comment.

"For everything," said Gabby. "Seymour made me realize how thankful I should really be to have friends like you…and for that, just thank you."

Sora looked questioningly at Gabby. "You really have been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?"

Gabby smiled. "Yeah, I have…You know, I didn't want to admit this, but…I was a little afraid at first…but now, I'm ready! No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here…

Sora blinked as Gabby looked at him right in the eye.

"Right, Sora?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course!" he replied, smiling.

Gabby sighed in relief. "That's good…Sora…will you do me a favor?"

Sora blinked, finding the request somewhat nostalgic. "Uh, sure."

Gabby diverted her gaze back at the horizon. "Sora…don't ever change."

Sora blinked and looked at Gabby, perplexed. "Huh?"

Gabby placed her music box into her pocket and stood up on the dock, her gaze never once leaving the sunset. She closed her eyes momentarily to enjoy the gentle breeze that began to pick up. She opened her eyes again to stare at the horizon once more. It was time to move on…she couldn't keep moping about over some proposal! She had time…she could work it out, for now…she had this.

"I just can't wait," said Gabby. "Once we set sail, it'll be great."

Sora smiled and stared back at the sunset, enjoying the view.

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of final revamp: 10-22-11

Okay guys, here is chapter three and if you have noticed, this is where everything begins to have *gasp* originality! :O

Yeah, no, I already used that joke…ahem, moving on, let's get to a few things. First off, I just got my replacement PSP with a BBS game, so…yayz! :D On another note, I got my braces off on 10-17-11, so I've been having a rather good week! Let's move on…that's enough about my life…let's get onto the notes, shall we? Oh, before that!

Translation:

"So what was going on between you and Sora?" Riku asked Gabby. "All this over a tie?"

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Riku. "Shut up!"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face as he watched Gabby and Riku get into a small argument…one that was rather colorful.

"Guys…" said Sora.

Cid immediately heard Sora's response in English and said, "Sora! I said no English! Speak Al Bhed!"

Sora laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry Cid…"

Cid looked at Sora as he nodded his head once in satisfaction. "Very good, Sora."

Sora laughed again and diverted his attention back to Gabby and Riku. Gabby was smiling smugly at Sora whilst Riku just had an amused expression on his face.

"Ooh, busted!" said Gabby. "Sora got called out by teach~!"

Sora scowled at Gabby as he snapped at her. "Shut up!"

"Make me!" Gabby chirped, sticking her tongue out at Sora afterwards.

Sora stood up from his seat as he exclaimed, "Why you!"

SLAM!

Sora yelped as an eraser hit his forehead. He caught the eraser in his left hand as he rubbed his forehead with his right hand. He looked at the eraser and diverted his attention to Cid.

"No fighting in my classroom!" Cid said sternly. "Take it outside if you're going to fight!"

Cid directed Sora and Gabby at the door.

"The door's over there!" he said.

Gabby and Sora looked at each other. Riku arched his brow at the two.

"Are you going to fight or not?" asked Riku.

Gabby crossed her arms and let out a puff of air. "Why bother? I'm not in the mood."

Sora nodded. "Same here..."

"Besides, I already promised Kairi that I'D fight her…not Sora, her," Gabby added.

Sora rolled his eyes as he sighed. "Of course…"

Riku just laughed.

End of translation…all right! There may be more of these in the future, so be prepared! Yeah…I played _Final Fantasy X_, lay off! DX

(1) This guys, is another of my OCs, only difference…she's more of a tribute and a commemorative OC to my good friend, **Oathkeeper88**. Cassie is based on his sister, who had been beaten to death by her boyfriend nearly a year ago.

Cassie

Age: 17

Hair: Short, light brown

Eyes: Green

Height: 5'8"

The biological daughter of Kairi and Gabby's adoptive parents. She has trouble figuring out her place. Has a high magic count, but the worst physical attack. Is considering becoming a Scholar. She is the type of person others go to for help…just like an older sister. In short terms, she's the older sister figure for everyone who knows her.

(2) I just saved you the time and gave you a heads up on the deal with Mages…all whilst editing it to my story's fit…yeah…it's mostly correct, save for the whole Black Mages using White Magic and such…yeah, can't happen in the game.

(3) Note, this is NOT the real Seymour Guado from _Final Fantasy X_…but a Destiny Island incarnate of him. The Destiny Islands Seymour Guado is different from his Final Fantasy counterpart because of one thing…I would say what it is, but I would spoil it, so I won't. You'll have to look it up yourself. Aside from that, this is a part of my originality working into play! DX That does not really happen in _Final Fantasy X_!

(4) Do not mistake him for Cid Highwind of _Final Fantasy VII_ or any other Cids…here's the thing. Cid is a recurring name in the Final Fantasy series as is the Highwind, however…this Cid, right here, the Al Bhed…you know him better as Yuna's uncle and the father of both Rikku and Brother. Hoped that cleared things up…

(5) Another Final Fantasy character…this guy, right here, he is from _Final Fantasy VI_, a wonderful game from what I've known and play. Haven't even gotten very far, and yet, my opinion of it is already high. That's how you know you have a good game. Yeah, as far as classification goes, he is a Monk, which is why he is the Gym class teacher…yeah.

(6) This came to me on Sunday when I was trying to go to sleep, but couldn't…this was just right after I had made The Advent of Misadventures official. Yeah…I'm keeping with this! It's my idea and I have plans for it…oh, the possibilities I can come up with using that! ^^ Yeah, it's for humor and a bit of a plot point. Gotta have something, ya know…

(7) Spiders in the Final Fantasy series are known for usually inflicting poison ailments…what Gabby had encountered was a Gloom Widow and Gloom Widows can poison…Tarantulas, as Seymour brought up, are unlike that of their real-life counterparts as they are deadlier and can kill people…yeah… Esuna is White Magic that cures you of your status ailment.

(8) Please don't be surprised if I make jokes like that…I ain't the yaoi-hating girl (I accepted it, just couldn't read it without my face going red) I used to be. Hey…gotta show some tolerance.

(9) This is the explanation for Aeons in this world…part of it is from me, the other is the real definition of Aeons I got off the Final Fantasy wiki.

(10) That is a bit of a Final Fantasy X joke as there is such think as overkill…and I'm pretty sure that would have counted as one.

(11) Ah, no dur…this shows how much Sora can't seem to tell the difference between Kairi and Gabby in his earlier memories. Aside from that, it's just there for humor and such…yeah, Sora will be in really deep if Seymour finds out about that. XD

That's enough about that…as you can see, this chapter is rather serious at certain points, but seriously, think about it…if you had just gotten proposed to and had to go through what Gabby did, you wouldn't be that much happy or rather, you'd be more confused.

I'm just trying to keep this story from getting too out of place in certain parts.

NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is welcomed and reviews just make my day…seriously, they do. My arms are sore from walking from school to home whilst carrying my books yesterday…I can barely type right! DX

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Till next time! KD out! XD


	4. Night of Fate

Somewhere otherworldly,

Upon a desk within a massive library, there lied a few letters; one in particular had a peculiar insignia at the bottom of the letter right by the signature.

At the moment, the Court Magician, Donald, was conversing with Queen Minnie whilst Daisy and Goofy tried to figure out what was going on, all having learned of the letter's contents. The letter's contents were read:

_Donald,_

_Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, but there's big trouble brewin'. Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin'_ _out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I've gotta go check into it. There's someone with a_ '_key'—the key to our survival._

_So I need you and Goofy to find them. Got it? We need that key or we're doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon. He'll point you in the right direction._

_P.S._

_Would ya apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks pal._

_(insert Mickey Mouse emblem)_

A yellow dog with a green collar around his neck, was sleeping soundly in his bed. He was unaware of the trouble going on and the current discussion. Daisy looked nervously at Queen Minnie and then at Donald and Goofy.

"Oh dear!" said Daisy. "What could this mean?"

Queen Minnie clasped her hands together, her expression most concerned but reassuring as she said,"It means we'll just have to trust the king."

"Gawrsh, I hope he's all right," said Goofy.

Donald looked at Queen Minnie and placed his right hand on his chest.

"Your Highness," said Donald. "Don't worry. We'll find the king and this 'key'."

Queen Minnie looked at Donald and smiled.

"Thank you, both of you," said Minnie.

Donald nodded and looked at Daisy.

"Daisy, can you take care of—" Donald was cut off by Daisy.

"Of course," said Daisy. "Queen Minnie will be okay under my care. I didn't just get this job as being Her Majesty's lady-in-waiting because I was her friend, remember."

Donald blinked a few times before remembering what Daisy was potential of doing. Sometimes her temper reminded Donald of someone… What was ironic was that he had yet to realize it was himself that Daisy reminded him of.

"You be careful, now, both of you," said Daisy.

"Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you," Queen Minnie said, gesturing at the desk.

Donald looked at the desk closely. Jumping up and down with the greatest intent of trying to be seen was a little green cricket with a red umbrella in his hand. The cricket wore a lavender-colored top hat and was dressed formally in a suit.

"Over here!" he called out.

The cricket stopped jumping after taking note that he had been seen. He took off his hat and bowed respectfully as he introduced himself.

"Cricket's the name," said the cricket. "Jiminy Cricket at your service."

"We hope for your safe return," said Queen Minnie. "Please help the king."

Donald stood up straight and placed his right hand on his chest. He looked at Queen Minnie, Daisy, and then at Goofy, who saluted. Donald scowled and grabbed Goofy by the arm, dragging the Captain of the Royal Knights with him.

"You're coming, too!" said Donald.

Sometime later, elsewhere,

Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy (who was riding on Goofy's hat), were walking down a long stairway. As they walked, Goofy and Donald tried to get acquainted with their new traveling companion, seeing as where they went; Jiminy would be there as well. So far, they have learned that Jiminy was from a world…a world that had disappeared.

"Gawrsh, Jiminy, your world disappeared, too?" said Goofy.

"It was terrible," said Jiminy. "We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this castle."

Donald diverted his eyes on Goofy as he wondered whether or not the dog remembered what Donald _painstakingly_ explained to him earlier…

"Goofy?" said Donald. "Do you remember?"

Goofy blinked and nodded.

"Oh, right…" said Goofy. "I gotcha…While we're in other worlds, we can't let on where we're from. We've gotta protect the world border."

Well, he got everything aside from the mispronunciation of the last word…

"'Order'," corrected Donald.

"Right," said Goofy. "World order. Ah-hyuck!"

Donald sighed and hoped deeply that his friend didn't screw up, because Goofy had a tendency to do that.

Some moments later,

Donald and Goofy were walking down a hallway after making their way down the stairs.

"I guess we'll need new duds when we get there," said Goofy.

How Goofy knew that word, Donald will never know, but he wasn't complaining.

More moments later,

Donald and Goofy walked into a hangar. Gears were moving, as were mechanical gloved hands. A red ship consisting of a simple look on the outside (but on the inside…that was a different story) was at the lower level of the hangar. Donald stopped in front of what might have been an intercom as he talked into it.

"Hello up there?" Donald called out. "Donald Duck to launch crew!"

At a higher level of the hangar in a small platform room, were two small, anthropomorphic chipmunks. They both wore brown gloves and an apron with a slanted blue pocket that had a red, tri-circular insignia on it. Both seemed to resemble the other…until a closer look revealed that they had distinct differences.

Their aprons had inversed colors of the other and their gloves differed slightly in shading of color. Aside from the difference of clothing, physical differences also applied. One of the chipmunks had a small, black nose and two teeth set together in the center of his upper jaw. The other chipmunk had slightly lighter brown fur, a big red nose with two bucked, front teeth, and on the top his head, was a mohawk-like crest of fur.

The black-nosed chipmunk was by the intercom, listening carefully to Donald as he spoke.

**_"Anytime you're ready,"_** said Donald's voice.

The black-nosed chipmunk saluted and said, "We're right on it! Dale!"

The red-nosed chipmunk, Dale, nodded and immediately scurried over to a lever.

"I gotcha, Chip!" said Dale.

Dale hopped up and pulled the lever down. Steam started to spout out of the engines and the gears' motion quickened. A mechanical gloved hand began to move forward, making its way over to Donald and Goofy (and Jiminy, who is still on Goofy's hat). Dale hopped up on top of a control panel right next to his partner, Chip. Both chipmunks watched closely as it was their jobs as the castle's engineers to watch over everything happening in the hangar.

A gloved hand was now holding Goofy upside-down from the bottom of his pants, while another held Donald upside-down by the back of his shirt. The mechanical gloved hands brought Donald and Goofy over the open hatch of the ship, dropping them into the ship right into their seats.

Pluto ran after them and made a great leap off the platform, managing to land in the ship afterwards. Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, and Pluto were now in the ship, ready for blast off.

Queen Minnie and Daisy walked onto the platform to see their friends off. Daisy looked at Donald, who winked and gave her a thumbs-up as a reassurance.

The ship's engines were on, coordinates loaded into the ship's mainframe…there was no doubt that the ship was ready for lift off. The runway on the other side, opened as the ship, now shaking violently from the engine, was just about ready to blast off. All blast off needed was for Donald to say the word, which he did as he pointed at the runway's tri-circular-shaped opening and screamed excitedly, "Blast off!"

A neon sign in front of the ship immediately appeared pointed downwards as a hatch below the ship opened. And with that, the ship began hurtling downwards.

Donald immediately began screaming in fear as he held onto the ship's controls with his dear life as the ship tumbled through the darkness. Goofy, having been unfortunate and not quick enough to get into his seatbelt, ended right up the ship's ceiling…the entrance part.

"WAAAK!" yelled Donald.

"Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" hollered Goofy.

Pluto yelped as his ears, as sensitive as they were, were of no use in a room full of screaming people. He used his paws to cover his ears as he stayed, tucked into the small doghouse that had been built in the ship's cockpit.

Moments later, the ship popped out from the bottom of the world they were just in. It was there that the ship came to a stop in falling as its rocket boosters kicked in and began to move the ship forward. Slowly after Donald managed to seatbelt himself into his seat, he took hold of the controls and maneuvered the ship right side up again. Goofy came crashing down afterwards, no thanks to Donald, but the Captain of the Royal Knights was unfazed from the fall. In fact, compared to what he was usually put up against, this was nothing. Though, that didn't mean it didn't hurt…

Goofy rubbed his head and took off his hat to see if Jiminy was okay. The cricket was currently shaking in his hat, but otherwise, he was okay. Shaken up, but otherwise, he was fine…

…

…

…

* * *

Back on Destiny Islands,

Within one of the rooms within a quaint two-story house, there resided Sora. Sora had his back against his bed's mattress as he stared up at the ceiling of his room, his hands under his head. His gaze was focused on the toy ship hanging from the ceiling. Within the ship were two dolls of a boy and girl, both made by Kairi and given to Sora at a young age…most likely when they were six because up till now, Kairi's crafting had improved by a great amount. The dolls weren't the best Kairi made, but at least they looked like a boy and girl.

Sora sighed and looked around his room. Earlier, he had changed out of his uniform and back into his usual attire. His uniform was lying in the exact same places where he had stripped them off just a while ago. Along with the clothes, were old toys that had been pulled out but never put away, strewn onto one side of the room on the floor.

It wasn't much of a mess, but to Sora…he definitely needed to pick up at least the toys. Just a while ago, he stepped onto a couple jacks…with no shoes on. It was rather painful and thankfully, his mother was a White Mage (one of the best on the island). So healing wasn't much of a problem…

Sighing, Sora looked back at the toy ship, his thoughts drifting to what Gabby had told him. She had seemed rather cheerful, having had a change in character. She seemed so sad at first, but now…she seemed okay.

"_I just can't wait," _Gabby's voice echoed._ "Once we set sail, it'll be great."_

Sora closed his eyes and sighed softly as he was beginning to drift off.

* * *

Meanwhile on the island,

Gabby stared at the fire burning in front of her, flickering slightly in the wind. She was huddled under a dark blue blanket, thoughts focused on what would come with tomorrow. She shivered slightly and tightened her grip on the blanket, mentally cursing why she didn't have her extra set of clothes with her. She was still in her school uniform and, unlike her usual clothes, her uniform wasn't as warm.

Sure, it was almost summer, still late spring, and the days were warm and sunny so far (until a few more weeks, where warm turned into **hot**), but the nights were rather cool. Though, it was strange…it was never _this_ cold at night in the late spring…

Gabby shuddered as a shiver went up her spine. She looked around the empty beach, the only lighting, aside from the fire, being moonlight. It was eerily quiet and since she was alone, it was rather scary for her. She never did like being alone…at least she had the tent set up…

Gabby's expression changed as she looked at the music box in her lap. Her eyes looked closely at it as she noticed a small insignia. In the past nine years (well, nine this coming fall), she had never noticed the insignia on the top of the music box. The insignia was peculiar one; however…it seemed so familiar.

"_How…strange…"_ she thought.

* * *

Elsewhere,

Riku stared at the islands from his room's balcony, memories popping up in mind. Knowing that they would soon set off for other worlds, Riku felt anxious. There was something he had yet to do… Gripping the balcony's railing, Riku nodded once as he knew that whatever he wanted to do, he had to do it now. He couldn't wait any longer…

* * *

Meanwhile,

Kairi sighed as she tried to finish her charm. Sitting across from her bed, was Cassie and Yuna. Yuna was a girl that just about everybody knew due to her kindness and compassion she showed to just about everyone. She was also one of the most notable Summoners for having given an Aeon from her family. Yuna was also very beautiful.

Yuna had straight, shoulder-length brown hair and heterochromatic eyes with her left eye being a normal blue and her right eye being green. The reason for her heterochromia was due to her Al Bhed heritage. She wore a small, blue-beaded earring that hung from her right ear, hidden by a lock of her hair, woven into blue beads with gold rings around the larger, middle bead, and she also wore a silver pendant around her neck.

Yuna wore something else from her school uniform, having changed before she made it to her friend's house. She wore a blue, pleated furisode kimono with a hibiscus floral pattern, black boots, and a black spaghetti-string camisole under a white sash of material that wraps around her neck and over her chest. Tied around her waist, was a yellow patterned obi, also adorned with hibiscus flowers, with a chōchō musubi knot and a decorative obidome to cinch the cords. She also wore two separate, kimono-like, sleeves hanging from her upper arms. (1)

Yuna and Cassie were currently helping each other study with their Magic test. Apparently, Palom and Porom, the Black and White Magic teachers (respectively) had decided to up the Magic test to this Friday, giving the two girls extra time to study.

"So how was your Summoning test, Yuna?" Kairi managed to ask.

Yuna looked up at Kairi and replied, "Oh, Rydia gave me an A+." (2)

"That's great!" said Kairi. "So, did you hear what happened today?"

Cassie and Yuna both stared questioningly at Kairi as they said, "What?"

Kairi sighed and looked at the two girls. "Seymour Guado proposed to Gabby."

"Are you serious?" asked Cassie. "But she's only thirteen!"

"The proposal pact is still on…" explained Kairi.

Cassie blinked a few times and nodded. "Oh, that's right…well, how is Gabby?"

"Very much confused…" said Kairi. "Huh, Yuna…are you okay?"

Yuna blinked and smiled at Kairi. "Yeah, I'm okay…I'm just…just wow."

Kairi arched her brow at Yuna. She could've sworn she just saw the Summoner frowning a minute ago after hearing the news. Kairi shrugged it off as she went back to working on her charm.

"_Must be seeing things,"_ she thought.

* * *

Sometime later,

Riku hopped out of his boat and onto the dock. He looked around and blinked when he saw the small fire, a tent, and…yeah, this one didn't surprise him since he was used to finding Gabby asleep on the beach (this also applied to Sora, but anything after eight at night was questionable). He walked over to the sleeping girl and arched his brow when he saw a silver, heart-shaped box right by her. He knelt down and picked up the box, closing it afterwards.

Riku looked over the silver box before placing it into his pocket. He then stood up and began to throw sand onto the fire until it had been completely buried in sand. After making sure the fire was completely extinguished, Riku started to make his way towards the secret place. He would give Gabby back her box tomorrow, when she was awake, but for now…he had to do something. He couldn't wait anymore…

"_I have kept it secret…but where are you?"_ he thought.

Moments after entering the opening in the wall, Riku walked deeper into the secret place, coming only to a stop when he reached the mysterious brown door that was in the secret place. He placed his hand on the door, his gaze focused on the door. In the center of the door was a yellow outline in the shape of a keyhole. (3)

* * *

Moments later back on the mainland,

Kairi smiled as she placed the finishing touches on her seashell charm. She was currently sketching in a picture on the charm's topmost shell. Yuna and Cassie had fallen asleep next to each other on Cassie's bed, which was right across from Kairi's on the other side of the room. Kairi wouldn't blame them for falling asleep. The two girls had spent an hour practicing their Magic. They were exhausted…they needed to recharge.

Kairi looked at the bed across from her after finally finishing her sketch on the charm (which was now done). It was empty, no doubt because Gabby stayed on the island to watch the raft…so far, Kairi kept quiet about that part to her parents and they still didn't notice…good. Yuna and Cassie were aware, but they were true friends and kept quiet about it.

The redhead inhaled deeply and sighed as she looked around her room. It seemed oddly empty without her twin…this was because it was the first time she had actually been apart from her. Kairi froze when she caught a glimpse of the window. Through the window, she could see dark clouds swirl in the sky above the island. Lightning flashed brightly as the sound of thunder followed through.

Kairi immediately stood up and placed the Thalassa shell charm in her pocket as she looked around for her shoes. Once she found them, she quickly put them on and quietly opened the window. She then began to climb down the tree, which had been of convenience in the past years. The storm was definitely not a good sign…her sister was still on the island as well as the raft, but more importantly, her sister!

Kairi had to get to the island to at least drag her sister back home because the raft could go to hell for all she cared. Besides…why did they build a raft if they had boats?

"_Well, we were already too far into making the raft…"_ she thought.

…

When Yuna and Cassie came to, the first thing they noticed was the open window and Kairi's empty bed. The storm is what caught their attention afterwards.

"You don't think…?" said Yuna.

Cassie nodded. "She went to the islands…we gotta go after her."

"But what about your parents?" asked Yuna.

Cassie shook her head. "We can't tell them…we promised. Now let's take the window…you know how to jump windows, right?"

Yuna twiddled her fingers around as she looked down. "I'm not that good…you mind helping me out?"

"Sure," said Cassie. "I wouldn't blame you for not being that good. I could see why you're almost near close to being tardy in school."

"I really need to work on my jumping…" Yuna said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"And I need to work on my endurance…we're in similar situations, now let's go!" said Cassie. (4)

* * *

Back in Sora's room,

Sora sat up in his bed and woke up wide-eyed. A loud clap of thunder had waked him up from his sleep. She looked around, his gaze coming upon his window. His eyes widened as he spotted the dark clouds over the islands, lightning flashing a moment afterwards.

"A storm?" said Sora. "Oh, crap! The raft and Gabby…oh, she's gonna be ticked when she finds out…"

Gabby certainly is going to go through a lot today…first the proposal, then her realization that Seymour is actually more than he appears, and finally, this…yeah, she's gonna be ticked.

Some moments later,

Sora's mother, a woman with long, brown hair and beautiful, green eyes made her way to her son's room. She stopped in front of the door and knocked a few times, seeing as she wanted to avoid walking in on her son changing, an incident she (or rather on Sora's behalf) unfortunately experienced a few weeks ago. Sora would not look at her for three whole days, seeing as every time he did, his face reddened in embarrassment.

"Sora, dinner's ready," she said.

No answer…something wasn't right…Sora usually bolted out of his room after hearing it was dinnertime… Sora's mother sighed and guessed that he might've fallen asleep. She reached for the doorknob and turned it. The door creaked as she opened it.

"Sora!" she said again. "Dinner time and it's your favorite! Sora—"

Still no answer…and Sora's mother knew why when she got a look inside. The window was open, the curtains around it fluttering in the night breeze. The bed was empty, as was the room. Sora was no longer here…

"Sora!" she exclaimed. "This isn't funny! Where are you?"

Sora's mother's eyes widened as she realized where her son could be…on the island, where a huge storm was currently beginning to stir up.

"No…Takeru!" she exclaimed as she bolted from the room.

Sora's mother ran down the stairs, almost tripping on a step as she made it to the bottom of the stairs. The first person she ran into was her husband (and Sora's father), Takeru Irino, a fairly tall man with black spiky hair and the most vibrant blue eyes. He looked at his wife, perplexed as to why he seemed so concerned.

"What's wrong, Hikari?" he asked.

Hikari grabbed her husband's shoulders as she looked him right in the eye.

"Sora's not in his room!" she exclaimed. "He went to the island and there's a storm, and…"

Takeru's eyes widened. His son…his only child, went to the islands during a storm…it sounded like something he, Takeru, would've done when he was younger… Though, even so, this was something Takeru could not find himself making any jokes about since this was a serious subject.

"We gotta get him," was all he could say. (5)

…

…

…

"Tidus!" exclaimed Selphie.

Tidus ran to Selphie, having just bolted from Wakka's house. Wakka and Tidus were having a bit of a videogame tournament between each other when the storm over the island caught their attention. Wakka followed after Tidus and looked around. He didn't like this one bit…

Lulu, whom had just jumped out of her room's window from the second floor, dashed over to Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie. Wakka looked at Lulu and his eyes widened. Lulu seemed…scared. Never once had Wakka ever seen the Black Mage this scared…

"It's not a normal storm," said Lulu. "It's unnatural…"

"And Gabby's still on that island!" exclaimed a voice. "Kairi went after her!"

The group turned to see Yuna and Cassie running towards them. Selphie, Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu were very much surprised to hear that.

"What do we do?" asked Selphie.

Tidus looked at everyone. "I…I don't know! I'm scared…"

Yuna walked up to Tidus and wrapped her arms around the younger boy as she embraced him.

"It's okay Tidus, I'm also scared…" said Yuna. "But we can't just stay around and do nothing…"

Cassie nodded. "Yuna's right…we have to do something. Lulu…you said the storm is unnatural…"

Lulu nodded. "It's almost as if someone was trying to summon Shiva without a summoner in the presence…only much worse."

Wakka looked wide-eyed at Lulu. "Are you telling me we'll most likely have another Ifrit incident?"

"If it does happen to be a summoning of Shiva gone wrong…then yes," said Lulu.

"We gotta stop it!" exclaimed Wakka. "Quick, to the island!"

Selphie frowned as she looked at Wakka. "We got a problem with that…we don't have the keys to the boat shack…"

"I believe this is what you're looking for," said a voice.

The group turned to see Seymour holding up a pair of keys. He seemed rather concerned and it wasn't a surprise, actually. His fiancée was still on the islands, so of course he would be concerned.

"Seymour!" exclaimed Yuna. "Where…did you get that?"

"It pays to have a Thief for a fiancée," Seymour said, grinning afterwards. (6)

* * *

…

…

…

Sora breathed heavily as he paddled his boat as fast as he could after making a huge dash to the docks. Unlike the others (excluding Kairi and Riku) who rented a boat, the one Sora had on him was his own. Thankfully, the sea was calmer than it usually was during storms…it made it easier for Sora to row at top speed and—

"Oh, my god!" exclaimed Sora. "My lungs are on fire!"

Sora stopped rowing for a few seconds to reach down for the canteen of water he usually kept in his boat. After twisting off the cap, Sora gulped down whatever amount of water was inside the canteen. He inhaled deeply afterwards and exhaled loudly. Once that was over, Sora began paddling again towards the island at a rapid pace.

* * *

Meanwhile in the midst of all the confusion,

Gabby was sleeping peacefully, unaware of the commotion that was beginning to stir up on the mainland. After a full ten minutes of peaceful sleeping, she was finally roused from her sleep when she felt something move lightly around her face. She swatted whatever it was, away, not once opening her eyes as she tried to go back to sleep.

Hissing woke the brunette fully as her eyes snapped open wide. Gabby found herself face to face with an ink-black face with yellow, beady eyes. She had no idea just what creature that was in front of her…it was nothing like the ones she had been told in Beast Master Class…

Beast Master was a class where everyone is told about the dangers of monsters, the types, and where they are also taught how to befriend certain monsters and, in certain cases, how to manipulate those who cannot be befriended.

Gabby immediately jumped back, avoiding a slash from the creature. It hissed at her again, about ready to lunge at her. She immediately stood up and looked around in the sand for her toy sword. She spotted it in the sand…right behind the creature…

"Aw, crap…" muttered Gabby. "Well, it's all or nothing!"

Gabby charged towards the creature and with great skill, she jumped over it, the timing being rather convenient as the creature had tried to lunge at her and now…it was face-first in sand. Gabby huffed and grabbed her sword as she raised it high into the air and brought it down onto the creature. It would've been a good blow to the back of the head…had the creature not turned two-dimensional.

"Agh!" yelled Gabby.

Just now, a creature had snuck up behind her and slashed at her ankle. Gabby dropped her sword and clutched her ankle, taking note that it was now bleeding. The brunette cursed mentally as she realized that this was a distraction because more creatures were now surrounding her. Gabby clenched her teeth and grabbed her sword as she began to swing it around frantically. Her heart just about stopped when she realized she couldn't hit them.

This was bad…oh so very bad…it was just like that time a Tonberry walked into town. Dear god, that following week was full of nothing but tension as everyone struggled to stay quiet and not attract the attention of the Tonberry whilst Sora's parents, the usual Tonberry Exterminators, did their job to get rid of it.

After learning what they were capable of, every person on the island had developed a great fear of them. Anyone would since these enemies are capable of killing a person with _one_ hit! (7)

Well, there was only one thing left to do…

"Run away!" Gabby said, running past a few creatures. She dodged and avoided slashes from the creatures. She stopped only to climb up a tree, which currently seemed like a very great idea. She had no potions on her, magic was useless since she didn't know anything about it, and her toy sword was useless! This was just like her worst nightmare…only without the Tonberry!

Unbeknownst to her, Kairi had made her way towards the secret place and entered the white door that was blocking off the previous entrance.

A few moments later, Sora arrived to the docks, nearly out of breath again. He inhaled and exhaled as he tried to take a small break. During this, he noticed a strange huge orb in the sky. It was pink in the center with a black outline…yes, quite a very strange thing.

"What the heck is that?" asked Sora. "Is someone trying to summon Shiva again without the aid of a summoner?"

That summoning went downhill after the being that was summoned ended up being a berserk Ifrit… Sora shuddered at the thought…he had nightmares for a week.

Sora blinked as he noticed two familiar boats right next to his, which could only mean one thing…

"Riku and Kairi are here!" said Sora. "And…what the hell? No! It can't be! No!"

Sora's eyes widened as he watched ink-black creatures with beady eyes and antennae come out of the ground. They were the very same creatures from his dream…if this was still a dream, then it was one hell of a nightmare. There was only one thing for Sora to do…

"AAAAHH!" screamed Sora.

Run like hell…and that is what Sora did, all while screaming at the top of his lungs. He was not going to fight creatures with a toy sword…that was stupid. He continued to run away from the black creatures, hopping over a few to avoid getting slashed. As he did this, he continued to scream. Just then, another scream joined along with his…Sora stopped screaming and looked around before quickly spotting a very familiar brown-haired girl at the top of a palm tree. It was Gabby and…she was about ready to—

THUD!

Scratch that, she just fell off the tree…into a bunch of darkness spawn creatures from hell!

"Oh, god no!" said Sora. "Gabby!"

Gabby immediately knocked the creatures off her and ran towards Sora, rather relieved to see him.

"Sora!" yelled Gabby. "I am so glad you're here! Do you have a potion? These creatures just _slashed_ me!"

Sora nodded and reached into his pocket for a Hi-Potion he had brought along with him. Before he could even give Gabby the healing item, a loud hiss caused them to freeze. Slowly, they turned their heads to see what it was. Their eyes widened when they noticed a brown hooded-cloaked figure amongst the swarm of creatures. It had green skin and yellow eyes and in its hands, were an old-fashioned lantern and a small butcher knife.

Gabby and Sora's eyes widened as their worst nightmare came true. They screamed at the top of their lungs (a.k.a., they screamed like little girls…Sora, especially) as they fled to the sea shack (or whatever was left of it) and ran up the stairs. Anything right now was best to avoid the dreadful creature among the black creatures.

The ink-black creatures stared curiously at the stranger amongst them. The green-skinned creature walked slowly towards one, the tension growing with each step. It then stopped and stabbed the creature in front of it.

**DOINK!**

The ink-black creature immediately disappeared in a puff of smoke, having just fallen to the hands of the dreadful Tonberry. The Tonberry turned around, its knife gleaming slightly in the moonlight as it ran after more black creatures…only to trip over a rock and fall down. The knife in its hand flew into the air and landed onto the ground…right in front of Sora, who had just opened the sea shack's second door (which led out to the bridge).

Sora's eyes widened as he stared at the knife, its blade gleaming in the moonlight. His heart just about stopped when he realized what could've happened. Gabby, who had seen everything, whimpered as she clutched onto Sora's arm.

"Dear god…that was too close…" Gabby managed to say.

Sora nodded his head slowly, having just seen his life flash before his own eyes…wow, he really had a great life going on…and that damn Tonberry almost took it away! A shiver ran up his spine…that _was_ too damn close. Now he could only wonder what his parents would say if they ever learned of his and Gabby's experience with a Tonberry…

His mother would have a fit and his father would most likely congratulate him for surviving his first encounter… actually, his father would _so_ say that.

Takeru was known to praise his son from time to time depending on the situation…usually life-threatening situations Sora had managed to survive. As Takeru once said, what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.

Yeah, that really worked out since Hikari had to revive Takeru with Life 2 Magic after nearly getting killed by a Tonberry. Not much strength, but more strategy came out of that experience…

"Sora!" exclaimed Gabby. "Look!"

Sora blinked and diverted his gaze in the direction Gabby was pointing at. Right in the swarm of the darkness spawn creatures from hell, was the Tonberry, who was currently knifeless. One of the creatures snuck up behind the Tonberry and with a single slash, the Tonberry fell down onto the sand, fading away afterwards. The creature that had slashed the Tonberry was now looking at what it held in its hands, which appeared to be a pink…heart?

Whatever it was, Sora and Gabby were staring wide-eyed at the creatures. Those things just took down a Tonberry with a single attack…a feat that no one has ever been able to do because a Tonberry had the highest endurance, defenses, vitality, and not to mention, strength, in the history of all monsters.

In fact, it is the most feared in the monster book in Beast Master Class, next to the Cactuar, who…actually, forget that statement. The Cactuar or rather, the Jumbo Cactuar (in general) was just hated since it was the mascot to Destiny Islands' rival town, Maranda. (8) Aside from being a mascot, it was also the most annoying monster to get rid of!

Sora and Gabby backed away as they tried to figure out what to do. They were trapped and possibly swarmed, on an island with no effective weapons and magic skills that would most likely be of use…if they ever survived through this, they were _so_ going to complain about it for the next month.

"Sora, what do we do, now?" asked Gabby.

Sora looked nervously at Gabby. "I really don't know…maybe if we go through that swarm and get to the boats, we can escape!"

Gabby looked at Sora wide-eyed with disbelief.

"Are you friggin' crazy?" exclaimed Gabby. "Those monsters just took down a Tonberry!"

"I have had enough of that Tonberry!" snapped Sora. "I almost got killed by it…"

Gabby placed her hands on her hips. "And I almost got killed by a Gloom Widow today, but do you see me overreacting? No…"

"That's because your fiancé was there," Sora remarked.

Gabby blinked a few times and scowled as she grabbed Sora by his hoodie.

"Take…that…back…now…" she said darkly.

Sora laughed nervously as Gabby glared at him. She didn't like the tone Sora spoke to her in when he said that. The spiky-haired boy diverted his eyes away from Gabby, blinking when he spotted someone very familiar on the small island on the other side of the bridge.

"Hey, is that Riku?" he asked.

Gabby blinked and turned her head, smiling when she exclaimed, "It is!"

Sora sighed in relief as Gabby released him…only to yelp when the brunette grabbed his hand in a not-so-gentle manner. Sora then found himself being dragged by the smaller girl across the bridge. It was not a pleasant experience because his hand's circulation was practically cut off!

…

Riku was indeed on the island, looking rather calm for someone on an island that had suddenly been infested with strange ink-black creatures. It was as if he had no reason to be scared…

"Gabby, your sister's on the island," said Sora.

Gabby's eyes widened as she looked at Sora shocked. She stopped in her tracks and slid to a stop just a few feet away from Riku. She turned around to face Sora and grabbed him by the shoulders as she violently began to shake him.

"What?" she exclaimed. "You didn't tell me earlier why?"

Sora's eyes had spirals in them as Gabby continued to shake him. "I don't know! It just slipped my mind…I almost got killed by a fricken' Tonberry, for crying out loud!"

Gabby stopped shaking Sora, the spiky-haired boy going limp for a moment. Sora quickly snapped out of his dazed state and shook his head, completely snapping out of it. He took Gabby's hands off of his shoulders and looked at the smaller girl straight in the eye.

"Look, we're in this together…" Sora said, quickly muttering under his breath, "Unfortunately…"

Gabby blinked and scowled at Sora. "What was that?"

"That's not important!" snapped Sora. "We gotta get to Riku…he might know where Kairi is! I mean, Riku's right there, and Kairi? We don't know where she even is!"

Gabby tilted her head to the side and nodded. "I gotcha…so, let's go!"

Sora and Gabby turned as they made their way towards Riku. Riku was currently staring out at the ocean with his back turned against them. He seemed unfazed by their yelling and probably didn't even noticed their presence whatsoever…that didn't matter at all, seeing as it was still a relief to see Riku here at all!

"Riku!" exclaimed Gabby. "Have you seen Kairi?"

Riku didn't bother turning around as he replied, "The door has opened…"

Sora and Gabby stared at Riku, perplexed.

**DOT DOT DOT…**

"What?" they both said.

Riku turned to Sora and Gabby, an eerie smile on his lips. "The door has opened, Sora, Gabby…Now we can go to the outside world!"

Gabby backed away from Riku slowly, letting go of Sora's hand as she felt something rather different about Riku…something that scared her.

"W-What are you talking about?" Gabby asked, somewhat nervously. "We've gotta find Kairi before she gets seriously hurt!"

"Kairi's coming with us!" Riku shouted back, his voice almost trembling with excitement.

A strange gleam in Riku's eyes made Gabby's eyes widened as she began to break into a cold sweat. There was something wrong with him…Sora noticed that as well. It frightened him…the monsters, his ineffective fighting, and now this! Sora swallowed the hard lump that was beginning to form in his throat. He didn't know what to do…

Riku didn't seem to notice his friends' distress as he was too enthralled with the discovery he made earlier about the outside world. Though, he was a bit hesitant…

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back," Riku said as a matter-of-factly, his gaze now focusing on the giant orb above him. "We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance."

Sora felt Gabby's hand latch onto his own, gripping it tightly with all her might. Sora winced at the immense pressure his hand was being held in, but despite this, he could sympathize with the brunette as he, too, was also frightened by the silver-haired teen's current behavior.

"_I guess that's what she meant about him being different, earlier,"_ Sora thought as he patted Gabby on the head reassuringly.

Riku continued on, his voice still oddly calmer than ever, "We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

Sora clenched his teeth as he glared at Riku. "Lies! You still sleep with a night light in the shape of a star!"

Riku ignored that comment from Sora as it was completely untrue. He got rid of that night-light when he turned nine, which by then, he knew that there were other things to be afraid of than the dark…but that didn't mean he was completely over his fear…

…until now.

Riku turned back to Sora and Gabby, a faint smile now on his lips as well as an almost maniacal gleam in his eyes. He calmly outstretched his hand to Sora. Sora's eyes widened as he broke into a cold sweat. This was exactly like his dream…or rather, his nightmare as this whole situation was turning out to be.

The same applied to Gabby, who wasn't looking too good at the moment. Anxiety was beginning to take its toll on her. Everything that had happened today was suddenly hitting her like a bolt of lightning as she felt… Gabby let go of Sora quickly as she covered her mouth with her hands, suppressing a rather loud gag.

Sora turned to Gabby, noticing her distress. She gagged again, falling onto the ground on her knees this time. Sora knelt down by Gabby's side and tried to calm her down as he placed his hand on her back. As he calmed her down, Sora looked up to check up on Riku, whom continued to stare at Sora with the same manic expression. A nauseous feeling began to rouse inside Sora. Panic had completely engulfed Sora now…his friend…and that dream…his friend…

"Riku…" Sora said, his voice shaking.

Suddenly, darkness spouted from the ground in a large black patch that appeared beneath Riku, Sora, and Gabby. Gabby's eyes widened as she stared down at the dark tendrils that begin to reach up from the ground. She shrieked and grabbed onto Sora's waist, having been scared out of her wits. They felt so icy and cold…the texture was so weird…it felt so gross… Gabby muffled another gag with her right hand.

The black tendrils began to wrap tightly around Riku's body, steadily climbing higher and higher as it slowly engulfed him. Riku stayed calm, not once moving as he kept his hand outstretched to Sora.

Sora's heart thumped repeatedly in his chest at a rather rapid rate as he stared at Riku in a state of panic. He reached out to Riku and tried to stand up, but he found himself unable to do. Sora looked down, his eyes widening as he noticed the black tendrils begin to wrap around him. They felt so cold… Sora shook his head and looked up as he tried with all his might to see if he could at least lean forward enough to grab onto Riku's hand.

The ground began to shake violently as Sora kept trying to grab a hold of his friend's hand. He had just about touched the tips of Riku's fingers when a force pushed him back onto the ground. Gabby shrieked as she landed alongside Sora, still clutching onto his waist.

The black tendrils continued to wrap around them, the darkness soon closing in on them. Everything went black for the two kids as thoughts began to rush into their minds. What would happen next? What of Riku and Kairi? Kairi…they still haven't found her yet…What of the mainland?

* * *

Meanwhile,

Lulu stared wide-eyed at an ink-black creature in front of her. Selphie and Tidus both held onto Yuna as the Summoner tried to comfort them. Cassie was just scared out of her wits…and Wakka? He stood in front of his friends with the intention of taking a hit for them if the creatures surrounding them suddenly decided to attack them.

Seymour, on the other hand, was debating whether or not to summon his Aeon, Anima…the situation seemed grim, but did he really needed to overdo it? He clenched his teeth as the creatures began to close in on them…it didn't seem like anything good would come out of this.

* * *

Elsewhere,

"What are these things?" exclaimed Hikari.

Takeru had no clue, but he kept swinging around his sword, managing to kill whatever amount of ink-black creatures that got in their way. Hikari was currently casting a Confuse spell in hopes that it would keep the creatures at bay for the moment…enough for them to escape them.

Not long after the creatures had begun to spawn from the ground, everyone ran out of their homes in panic. Students, teachers, and just people alike ran about, trying their hardest to fight back against the creatures, but to no avail. They just kept coming…

Teachers were very much trying to keep peace amongst the town as they weren't just Destiny Islands Academy's teachers, but also Destiny Islands' peacekeepers.

So much for peacekeeping, look at the state the whole town is in now. Even the students, whom were always looking for some action into their life, were now running away for their lives. One of the teachers, Sabin, ran into the center of town and called out to the students.

"Whoever fights and lives, passes for the year!" he exclaimed. (9) "It is not survival of the fittest, however! Help those in need, just please…fight back!"

The students of D.I. Academy looked at Sabin strangely…was he serious?

Sabin frowned. Nothing seemed to want to go right today…everything just up and turned into a nightmare…

"I concur!" exclaimed another teacher. "Anyone who fights back and lives _will_ pass for the year! Those who die will be honored bravely, but let's not think of that! Just fight back!"

The teacher who had spoke was none other than Cecil Harvey, one of Destiny Islands' most respected Paladin and teacher who taught Paladins in training. Cecil Harvey was a man in his late thirties. He wore a suit of white armor with dark spikes on the knees and pauldrons, and also a brown cloak with blue stripes around the neck. He had shoulder-length white hair and blue eyes.

Following Cecil's example, was a woman around the same age as Cecil. Rosa Joanna Harvey, the wife of Cecil Harvey, was another respected teacher and was considered the most beautiful woman, inside and out, on Destiny Islands. She taught the Archery class and, at times, took over White Magic. She wore a floor-length white gown with a silver belt around her waist. She also wore fingerless gloves, gray sandals, and a decorated pink and purple cape. Her hair was styled in a half updo, with long bangs framing her face.

"We have taught you, the children of Destiny Islands, for many years for situations like this," she said. "Do not let your training go to waste…now go!" (10)

With the two most-respected teachers on his side, Sabin found the students of D.I. Academy finally fighting back, trying their hardest against the creatures. Sabin walked up to Cecil and Rosa.

"Thank you," he said.

Cecil and Rosa just nodded before running over to support the students. Sabin did the same moments after Cecil and Rosa left.

* * *

…

…

…

"_Where…am I?"_ thought Sora.

Sora found himself plunged into deep darkness, no longer able to feel his friend's grip around his waist…yet, he could still feel the tendrils. He looked around for an opening but found none…it was just like his dream again.

"Not again…" Sora said, his voice almost cracking. "Get off!"

Suddenly, a bright gleam of light suddenly shone within the darkness, piercing through it until the inky-black darkness and tendrils had gone away. Sora was momentarily blinded by the white, bright light. Once it waned, Sora found himself slightly calm, his panic having disappeared. He looked around and saw that he was still on the small island, now standing up…however, Riku was gone.

Sora frowned and looked down, blinking a few times when he finally felt a strange weight in his right hand. He looked at his right hand and gasped as in his right hand…was a giant key-like sword of some sort. It resembled a classical skeleton key, approximately three and a half feet long in length…or Sora assumed. The blade was silver in color with teeth in the outline of a crown…much like the crown pendant Sora wore. It had a blue rain guard and yellow guard with a long, silver keychain extending from the hilt. The keychain was in a rather familiar tri-circular shape, resembling a mouse's head of some sort.

Sora's ears perked up as he picked up a slight whoosh coming from the swift wave of a sword. He turned around and saw a black wisp of smoke rising into the air as Gabby was in a striking stance, having just killed a creature sneaking up behind them. In her hand, was also a key-like sword, resembling Sora's a bit… though it had some distinct differences.

For one, the crown-shaped teeth were arched slightly; resembling the top-most part of a heart…another was the guard, which was white in color. And lastly, was the keychain extending from the hilt, which instead of the tri-circular shape that Sora was in, it was a silver outline in the shape of a heart. (11)

After a few moments, realization suddenly hit Gabby as she just noticed…

"Did I just kill one of these Tonberry-killing bastards?" asked Gabby.

Sora nodded slowly as he pointed at the key-like sword in Gabby's hand. Gabby blinked and looked at her right hand, gasping when she saw the sword in her hand.

"W-what?" she said. "What happened to my toy sword and—Sora, why do you have one, too?"

Sora just shrugged and walked over to Gabby as he replied, "Dude…how should _I_ know? I just got this!"

Gabby changed from her battle stance to a normal standing position as she held up her sword.

"I really don't know…" said Gabby. "But you make a very good point…"

Sora nodded and froze when he heard voice begin to speak in his mind, repeating the same word over and over again. Sora looked at his newly found weapon as this went on.

"_**Keyblade…"**_ said the first voice.

"_Blondie?"_ thought Sora.

"_Keyblade…"_ said the second voice.

"_Lady?"_ thought Sora.

What were they doing here out of his dream?

"_Keyblade_…_"_ they both said.

Sora blinked a few times and looked at his weapon. They were trying to tell him something…

"What…?" was all Sora could say.

…

…

…

"A Keyblade?" Gabby said, breaking the moment of silence. "The heck of a name is that?"

Sora blinked and looked at Gabby. How was she able to hear those voices…? Sora decided that now was not the time to even be thinking about things like that…not during a situation like this!

"Enough talking, we gotta get away!" exclaimed Sora. "Let's go!"

Gabby blinked a few times and pointed at her weapon. "But I just killed a creature…if I was able to do that, then you can as well."

Sora tilted his head to the side. "And you're saying…what?"

"We can totally kill these monsters!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora's eyes widened as he looked at his weapon. If Gabby was able to do that with her weapon, then maybe he could as well. He looked up at Gabby wearing a grin on his face.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

Gabby nodded. "Oh, yeah…"

A few moments later,

A killing of many, darkness spawned creatures from hell (as Sora called them) ensued as Sora and Gabby took advantage of their newly gained weapons. This went on for around five minutes until Sora realized something.

"They just keep re-spawning!" he exclaimed.

Gabby frowned as she struck another creature with her sword, effectively killing it. A puff of black smoke was all that was left of the creature. Gabby sighed as she could feel strength flow into her body. As much fun she had killing these creatures, Sora was right…the creatures were re-spawning. When situations like these happened, the first thing she and Sora were taught to do…was run.

"So, where to?" she asked. "C'mon Sora, your perceptivity is better than mine!"

Sora clenched his teeth as he looked around for an opening to escape. "I'm thinking…watch my back!"

"With pleasure!" Gabby exclaimed as she killed yet another creatures.

With everything she had been doing, Gabby had finally found an outlet to today's anxiety that had been burdening her. She felt as if she could finally let loose…

Sora blinked when he spotted rather peculiar…something that was definitely not there before. Blocking off the entrance to the secret spot, was a grand white door. That was rather…strange…

"Over here!" he exclaimed, grabbing onto Gabby's arm.

Gabby yelped as Sora dragged her along with him as he made his way towards the white door blocking off the secret place.

"When did this island get a fancy door?" asked Gabby.

"It never did!" snapped Sora.

Sora and Gabby stared at the door in front of themselves. They didn't know what to do with it…should they open it? But then what awaited them inside? If they didn't open it, the two had to deal with the constantly re-spawning creatures…

…

"Agh, screw it!" exclaimed Sora.

Sora was just about to grab the door handles, when suddenly, the door opened on its own. He stepped back, alarmed. Suddenly, he realized where he had seen this door before. It had also been in his dream. No doubt about it…They looked almost exactly the same, save for the color, and they even opened the same way…

…

"Are you gonna go in?" asked Gabby. "If you are, can you hurry it up? They're starting to surround us!"

Sora snapped out of it and looked at the opening before him. He hesitated slightly before crawling through the crack in the rock. Gabby followed after him, kicking off a creature that had managed to follow them into the opening. After that, the door closed behind them trapping the two inside.

"Well, there's no going back now, I supposed," Gabby said, laughing weakly afterwards. "At least we're safe from them…"

Sora nodded as he got up from the ground. He froze as he realized something…when did the secret place get so much…bigger? Aside from the opening, the earthy tunnel that followed after was larger than it was before. Sora didn't say anything as, despite this strange occurrence, it actually made running easier. However, something bugged him…there was something here. Something was different…he could sense it. Something else… had changed.

Sora entered the cavity beneath the tree and screeched to a stop, his eyes caught a familiar redhead.

"Kairi!" he exclaimed.

Gabby pushed Sora aside after hearing the mere mention of her sister's name. "Kairi!"

Kairi was standing in front of the strange brown door Sora had discovered earlier. It seemed as though she had merely been staring at it all this time. She slowly turned around at the sound of her name.

Something inside Sora jumped. There was something different about her. Kairi looked drained of energy, almost sickly. Her eyes were half shut with her arms lying limp at her sides. Her eyes moved as though vaguely aware that there was anything in front of her.

"Sora…" she uttered, her voice almost sounding ghostly.

Sora's eyes widened at the sight of Kairi, and the sound of her voice. What was going on? First Riku, and now Kairi?

Gabby hesitantly walked towards her sister, her heart pounding within her chest and her blood running cold. Was this…her sister? It couldn't be…Kairi…

"_She sounds so…lifeless…"_ thought Gabby.

Kairi began to lift one arm slowly, outstretching it towards Sora and Gabby. Gabby reacted first and immediately started running towards the redhead.

"Kairi!" she screamed.

Sora just watched, finding himself unable to move. There was something wrong with Kairi… He had to help her somehow…he wanted to help her, but he couldn't move. His body…it just wouldn't budge…

Gabby had to save Kairi…she had to…Sora wanted her to save Kairi.

"_Please…help her,"_ he thought.

Kairi's eyes began to widen. There was a look of terror in her face, aimed at something…but what?

Suddenly, the door behind Kairi opened, sending out some kind of dark force that was similar to a strong gale. Gabby yelped as she used her arm to shield her face from the blast.

Sora shielded himself from the blast, realizing that he was now able to move. It didn't matter to him… The force almost knocked him back…it was strong… too strong, but that didn't stop Gabby from running after her sister… She lowered her arm and forced her eyes open as she focused her gaze on Kairi.

"Kairi…" said Gabby.

The gale pushed Kairi forward, sending her into her sister's now outstretched arms. Gabby deftly caught her sister and shrieked as she and Kairi were pushed back forcefully.

Luckily, for them, Sora was still there.

Sora's eyes widened as he saw Gabby and Kairi being pushed towards him. Outstretching his arms, Sora prepared himself to catch two girls that were being pushed right towards him at a force of…he didn't really know the calculations of the gale's force, but all he knew that if he didn't prepare, Kairi and Gabby were going to knock him down. Well, better safe than sorry!

Sora grunted as he caught both girls, not noticing that one of them was missing until…

"Kairi!" screamed Gabby.

Sora opened his eyes and gasped when he saw that Kairi was missing. She was just there a few seconds ago in Gabby's arms! It was as if she just disappeared…this definitely wasn't good…

The force in the gale suddenly strengthened and soon, Sora was knocked off his feet as he and Gabby were sent backwards down the earthy tunnel and out of the secret place.

* * *

Elsewhere,

Seymour, Wakka, Lulu, Cassie, Selphie, Yuna, and Tidus, all of them, found themselves surrounded by dark creatures, with nowhere else to go.

"We're trapped…" said Selphie.

Yuna bit her lip and just kept embracing Selphie and Tidus…they were the youngest of them, not even thirteen… And this had to happen…these two had been involved in a situation that was not only life-threatening, but scarring to those who made it out…that is, if was even possible to make it out alive.

Lulu tried her hardest to destroy some of the creatures with her magic, but they just kept re-spawning. No matter how hard they fought back, the creatures just re-spawned. Lulu looked at Wakka.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Wakka felt a pain in his chest as he noticed how frightened Lulu had grown. She was no longer as scared as she was earlier, no…she was beyond that. Wakka didn't know what to do…if he tried to comfort her, she might just snap back. If he did nothing…she would continue to grow even more frightened…

"_Talk about bein' caught in between a rock and a hard place…" _thought Wakka.

Cassie was trying her hardest to concentrate as she tried to put up a barrier to block the creatures away from them. For once, she couldn't bring herself to channel enough magic to create an effective barrier.

"_C'mon…"_ she thought. "Work…"

Seymour was at a loss for once…he couldn't just leave his friends. He had to protect them…but his fiancée…she was still on the island! He had managed to keep her safe up until now…

"Aah!" screamed Selphie.

Yuna's eyes widened as she noticed what had caused Selphie to scream. The creatures were coming closer…and they were preparing to attack. The group huddled up to one another. This only prompted the creatures to come even closer…and closer…until they suddenly jumped.

Wakka immediately shielded Lulu, wrapping his arms around the Black Mage. He didn't care if Lulu would attack him for this, but he didn't want to see her hurt. Seymour scowled as he shielded Yuna and Cassie along with Tidus and Selphie.

Yuna's heart was pounding with her chest, her eyes widening in fear as she realized this was it.

"_No…it can't…it can't be…"_ she thought. _"It can't end like this…not like this!"_

Yuna shut her eyes tightly as a pulse of energy began to emanate from her. The ground beneath her began to glow as a summoning circle appeared and circled around her. Light began to rise up into the air and the dark sky had managed to light up, though in only one place.

"Valefor!" Yuna screamed at the top of her lungs. (12)

After that, everything went black for them…

…

…

…

Hikari and Takeru found themselves trapped at the center of town square. They had seen so many children and adults alike, fighting so valiantly…but now, it was just them. As far as they knew, Hikari and Takeru had managed to make it alive. Whatever happened to everyone else…they weren't so sure. The people had either escaped…or had met a similar fate to one unlucky student.

"I hope Sora is okay…" Hikari said as she clasped her hands together.

Takeru nodded. "He has to be…he's our kid."

Hikari closed her eyes and began to concentrate. "Please…lend us your strength."

Takeru blinked and placed his hand on Hikari's shoulder. He closed his eyes as a bright, white light began to emanate from him and his wife. Hikari had casted Holy, the most powerful offensive White Magic spell, exclusive only to those of the White Mage class.

A pulse of white light suddenly just flashed, spreading throughout the area, destroying whatever monster was in its path. The bright light then began to envelop Hikari and Takeru. With that, the two were swallowed up in the bright light. (13)

* * *

…

…

…

Sora and Gabby found themselves rolling to a stop in sand. Sora was the first to get up as he recovered from his shaken state. He got on all fours and shook his head before wiping some sand off his face.

The second Sora opened his eyes, he gasped. "Whoa!"

Gabby pulled her face out of the sand and looked up, her eyes widening in horror.

"Wha…wha…" was all she could say.

Sora and Gabby were shocked at what they were seeing. The orb above them seemed to have gotten bigger. Along with that, the whole island was destroyed…the mainland was gone, as well as the oceans' waters, the beach, the trees…everything! Debris from the island spun around the small island Sora and Gabby…

The island…assuming from the whole situation they were in, the island they were standing on was probably the last thing that was left of the islands…it was shocking. With the islands gone, that meant…

Tears pricked Sora's eyes as he remembered something… "Mom…Dad…"

They were gone…and he never got to say goodbye or tell him where he went… Sora tried his hardest not to cry as he stood up, blinking back his tears. He looked at Gabby, frowning when he saw that she took it the hardest.

Tears were streaming down Gabby's cheeks as she stared out at the debris.

"Wakka, Tidus, Selphie…" she choked out. "Lulu…Cassie and Yuna!"

Sora blinked again and started to rub his eyes. He couldn't stop the tears that kept coming…he just couldn't. He felt a hard lump begin to form in his throat…

"_Just keep it together, Sora…keep it together…"_ he thought.

Gabby's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hands. "Seymour…"

It was up to this point where Sora could no longer keep it in. He couldn't stop himself from crying…it was too much. Riku disappeared in darkness and Kairi…she just disappeared in mid-air. Gabby had lost her fiancé…on the exact same day she had gained one…

Everything that had happened today…everything…it took just this night to change everything in the life of two young teenagers…

Sora clenched his teeth as he wiped his tears away using his elbow. Gabby just stared at Sora, not knowing what to do. Her breath hitched as she choked back a sob. She would not cry…

"_Not in front of him…"_ she thought. _"Not in front…of…Sora…"_

Seymour had been the first person Gabby had ever cried in front of aside from her adoptive family and Kairi. She didn't want to show how weak she was to Sora…not him. Still, that didn't stop the tears that just kept on coming. It didn't take longer before Gabby just lost it and started bawling.

The two teenagers cried hard, their emotions getting the best of them. Sure, they may have been young, but for them…it just made them feel so vulnerable.

THUD!

Sora and Gabby froze, their sobs ceasing as they realized…they weren't alone. Slowly, the two turned around, their eyes widening as their gaze fell upon a gargantuan, ink-black monster with beady yellow eyes.

To Sora, it was a nightmare turning even worse. The monster was the same one from his dream… Heart palpitating and body breaking into a cold sweat, Sora was scared. A shiver went down his spine as he stared into the monster's eyes. Sora's eyes widened as he realized something…his dream…it was almost as if it was preparing him for this…

"_Why…"_ he thought. _"Why…why me…why?"_

Sora scowled at the creature as he got up from the ground. He had cried enough…it was time for him to be strong.

"_That's right!"_ said Lady_. "Don't be scared!"_

Sora blinked as his weapon appeared back in his right hand. He looked at it, perplexed.

"_When…did it leave me?"_ he thought.

"_**You possess the strongest weapon in the world…"**_ said Blondie. _**"The Keyblade…"**_

Sora stared at his sword as he repeated Blondie's words. "Keyblade…"

Gabby turned to Sora, eying him questioningly. She blinked as she felt a familiar weight in her right hand and looked to see that it was her sword. She stared at it, just looking over it. She found something familiar about it…

"Gah!" she yelped.

Gabby clutched her head as it began to throb. Memories began to flood her head, most of them she recognized and other that were too fuzzy to make out. One of them stood out differently from the rest as it wasn't a recent memory…it was a past memory.

Gabby clenched her teeth as the memory began to clear up. She was remembering…but it hurt…

"_The most precious of all memories are the ones that hurt the most to remember,"_ said a voice. It was Lady. _"The more they hurt…the more precious they are. Sometimes…they may not seem precious at all, but they are important."_

Gabby closed her eyes as she endured the pain…she wanted to remember. All her life since she made it to the islands, she had been trying her hardest to remember and now…

She could and she wasn't going to give up this chance!

Gabby's eyes widened when the memory flashed, giving her a mental image of a woman with kind face with a gentle smile. Blue hair…and blue eyes…name meaning water…

"_What does it mean…"_ she thought.

"_As you go on, you will regain memories you have lost,"_ said Lady. _"They will be your key to remembering your past…but there will be much pain in remembering. Are you up for that?"_

Gabby blinked a few times as she placed her hands on the ground. She looked down and sighed. "I'm up…I want to remember."

"_Well, then good luck!"_ said Lady. (14)

Gabby smiled as she looked up. Her hand gripped her sword's hilt as she got off the ground. She looked at the monster before her, determination in her eyes.

"Sora…" she said.

Sora turned to Gabby. "What?"

"We have to fight back," she said. "Let's do it…for everyone."

Sora blinked and nodded. "Yeah…for everyone."

Sora and Gabby turned to the monster, no longer afraid of it. They were ready…

"Let's go!" exclaimed Gabby.

Gabby charged at the monster, her sword in hand, ready for battle. She leapt up and raised her weapon over her head, slicing vertically downward on the monster's hand afterward.

The monster reacted negatively to Gabby's assault as it hissed in pain. It swung its arm around as Gabby plunged her sword deeper into the monster's hand.

"I am not afraid!" yelled Gabby. "Gah!"

Gabby was knocked off the monster's hand and sent into the air, hurtling downward as gravity took effect. Her eyes widened as she noticed that her sword was still in the monster's hand.

Sora ran towards Gabby, his arms held out as he deftly caught the girl before she hit the ground. He slid to a stop and propped her into a standing position, looking over her to make sure she was okay, seeing as he had a few healing items on him.

"Are you okay?" asked Sora.

Gabby dusted herself and looked at Sora, replying, "Yeah, but my sword is still on that guy—wah!"

Gabby blinked as a white light flashed in her right hand. A few seconds afterwards, the light waned and Gabby found herself in possession of her key-like sword again.

"Wow…" said Gabby. "It's like a boomerang…Sora?"

Sora nodded as he prepared himself, his grip wrapped tightly around his own key-like sword. "Yeah, I know…let's see if those years of training have paid off!"

Sora ran towards the monster, leaping up into the air and landing onto its hand afterwards. He kept running up it until he was standing in the monster's shoulder. By then, the monster had already plunged its fist into the ground, a deep black vortex appearing around its hand. Ink-black creatures began to appear out of the vortex and started running over towards Gabby. Gabby yelped and swung her sword around, killing off a few monsters. After killing at least three, she looked up and scowled at Sora as she raised her fist.

"You bastard!" said Gabby. "You left me with these guys!"

Sora looked at Gabby and snorted at her. "Quit your bitching! At least I'm doing _something_! This guy's face is open, so that means this will _definitely_ hurt!"

Sora raised his sword high up above himself and slashed down vertically into the monster's face. The monster roared loudly as its hands immediately went to its face. Sora jumped off and landed onto the ground on his feet. He cringed slightly at the landing, a tingling feeling of pain coursing through his heels.

"Ow…" he said.

"You okay?" Gabby asked as she struck down the last of the small ink-black creatures. Afterwards, she ran over to Sora. "Sora?"

"Yeah…just…landed the…wrong way," Sora said, wincing. "There we go…gah…oh, crap, run!"

Sora grabbed onto Gabby's hand and ran over to a wooden plank in the ground, a remaining piece of a boat buried halfway into the sand. Sora grabbed onto it a second before a sudden force around him, Gabby, and the monster, began sucking them upwards into the giant orb. The monster was pulled into the orb above them, going god knows where to…most likely, oblivion…and that was bad because Gabby and Sora were headed there if he didn't keep his grip on the wooden plank.

With each passing second, the force coming from the orb above them grew stronger, but Sora was strong! He had many years of training since kindergarten!

Three minutes later,

Sora gritted his teeth as he tried to keep his grip on the wooden plank. It didn't help that Gabby was gripping his hand really hard, so aside from pain, he also had to keep a good grip…or they were both screwed. And…uh-oh…

Sora's grip began to slip as he was now holding onto the plank by four fingers…then three… Gabby noticed this, her eyes widening in fear.

"Don't let go!" yelled Gabby.

"I'm…trying…" strained Sora.

A few more seconds had passed before Sora completely lost his grip on the plank. His grip in Gabby's hand, however, was still good…too bad that wasn't much of a relief as they were now being pulled into the orb above them. Sora could only say one word at the moment…

"Shit!" he yelled.

And with that, everything went black as they plunged into the orb's vortex.

* * *

…

…

…

In the midst of a town that exuded an air of a Victorian-age town, was the Court Magician, Donald, and Captain of the Royal Knights, Goofy. They had been walking about, having just arrived to this town named Traverse Town. Pluto followed after them slowly, sniffing the ground curiously as his sensitive sense of smell picked up many new scents that he never smelled. Jiminy was still on Goofy's hat, currently writing down their whereabouts in a small journal.

The group was currently in the first district, a very quaint area full of a very small amount of various people that were walking about. Some of the people were conversing with each other. If they weren't conversing, then they were just standing about, sighing as they stared up in the night sky. Goofy looked around, staring at the night sky in awe as its starry sky was vast and…he blinked as he noticed something rather peculiar. He pointed at the night sky as he tried to get Donald and Jiminy's attention.

"Look, a star's goin' out!" he exclaimed.

Indeed it was. One of the many stars in the sky shone brilliantly before suddenly succumbing to darkness. Donald and Jiminy stared at the star that had just disappeared, the sight leaving them agape. Having recalled what King Mickey mentioned in the letter about the stars…the star blinking out could only mean one thing…a world had just disappeared.

Donald looked back at Goofy and replied, "Come on, let's hurry."

Goofy nodded in agreement, as he and Donald continued walking with the latter leading the way. The Captain of the Royal Knights couldn't help but look wondrously at the starry night sky, wondering what world it was that disappeared. Having done what the King had told them, the group had reached Traverse Town to find the man named, "Leon". They had a complete change in wardrobe to make themselves less apprehensive to the civilians they were going to encounter.

Donald let out an aggravated sigh and crossed his arms as he narrowed his eyes. "Now, where's that key?"

Goofy diverted his eyes on Donald and suggested, "Hey, ya know…maybe we oughta find Leon."

No answer…

Donald was obviously annoyed with Goofy's tendency to point out the obvious. It was a force of habit Goofy developed over the years spent at Disney Castle. Goofy shrugged and smiled like the optimist he was, always thinking on the bright side. This was more information Jiminy wrote down in his journal, having decided to give out some biographies on Pluto, Goofy, and Donald. If he was traveling with people he had barely known for about almost a whole day, he needed to know more about them and the best way to remember is to write it down…or at least in his opinion.

The group continued walking through town, walking up a set of steps leading to the front of one of the first district's many shops. Donald stormed up the right side, while Goofy and Pluto were on the left. Pluto continued to sniff out the area, partially out of curiosity and partially in search of his beloved master, the King.

As they reached the top of the set of stairs, Goofy stopped walking, having noticed that two of his companions had a split change in direction. Donald had turned to the right while Pluto had turned left down an alleyway, having discovered a scent that he found very intriguing. Goofy looked first at Pluto, then at Donald, then back at Pluto. He scratched his head thoughtfully, almost knocking his new hat off his head and, though unintentionally, Jiminy. He then raised one hand objectively in Donald's direction.

"Uh, Donald," Goofy called his companion, pointing in the direction Pluto had gone to. "Ya know, I betcha that…"

Donald diverted his eyes on Goofy, his expression one of frustration as he waved it off.

"Aw, what do _you_ know, you big palooka?" said Donald.

"What do I know?" Goofy wondered aloud, putting one finger over his lips thoughtfully. Goofy shrugged and turned to follow Donald, but before that, he called over to Pluto, "C'mon, Pluto!"

Pluto didn't seem to listen as he was too consumed in the scent trail he had picked up. He continued down the alleyway, his nose lowered. He turned the corner and passed a large set of crates piled on top of each other against the wall. He passed a group of barrels in the corner.

Pluto continued to walk until he had almost reached a wooden dead end. Before he reached the dead end, Pluto stopped, for there, nuzzled between the wall and a stack of crates and barrels did the scent trail end. He put his nose next to the large yellow shoe sticking out, smelling it, and matching it with the intoxicating scent trail he had picked up.

The yellow dog stuck out his tongue in a smile as he gazed at what he found. A young, teenaged boy sat wedged in between the crates, asleep. Sitting next to him with their head leaning on the boy's shoulder, was a small-heighted girl. She was also asleep.

Pluto's tail wagged as he discovered Sora and Gabby. The two had actually made it out alive…

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 10-23-11

Yup! I am on a roll! :D Two chapters in one day…well, sort of. I published chapter three at exactly 12 o'clock midnight…yup! But yeah…and so I take on another attempt at originality.

(1) Sorry for the long description there, but after being mentioned in the previous chapter, Yuna has _finally_ made her appearance. She is from _Final Fantasy X _and _X-2_ and she is by far, one of my favorite female characters next to Terra…not Terra from _Birth by Sleep_, but Terra Branford, who is known as Tina instead of Terra in Japan…yeah, I accept her English name better because of the green hair she had in Final Fantasy VI. I accept the name Tina when she has blonde hair in Dissidia…but either way, Terra is one of my favorite characters. She has one hell of an AWESOME theme! :D

(2) Rydia of the Mist is a character from _Final Fantasy IV_. She is a summoner, from what I read on the Final Fantasy wiki so I decided to make her the Summoning teacher of D.I. Academy…yeah. She's just mentioned, so sorry for those who were expecting to see her…also, Porom and Palom are twins who specialize in White and Black Magic…respectively.

Porom is the White Mage while her brother, Palom, is the Black Mage…thought they'd be good to be the Magic teachers of Destiny Islands.

(3) Yeah, I'm kinda spoiling it for those who don't know what's going on. A lot of you may see it as an allusion as to what really happened that night…where I got this off is from Re: CoM…yeah, Reverse/Rebirth for Riku's story.

(4) Behold! The powers of my originality brings in more people into this situation! DX Yeah, I am not leaving any chance to show what happened on the mainland whilst Sora was on the island, dealing with hell-spawned creatures.

(5) Behold as I actually give Sora's parents a bigger appearance! Meet Hikari and Takeru Irino, surname taken off of Sora's Japanese voice actor! ^^

Okay, name meaning…if _Kingdom Hearts_ taught me anything is that a dur, Hikari means light! :B This alludes to Hikari's classification as a White Mage…yeah.

Takeru…I'm pretty sure it means warrior and that alludes to Sora's father's class, which is that of a Warrior. Yeah…oh, if you noticed something…Hikari and Takeru share physical similarities to two certain _Final Fantasy_ characters who were once boyfriend and girlfriend…yeah, I'll let you figure that out. I'll give you a hint…a pink ribbon.

(6) As if I'm leaving Wakka, Lulu, Seymour, Selphie, and Tidus out of this mess… DX Hell no! No one knows exactly what happened to them during this night, so I'm taking this chance to show what happened…well, what happened before Destiny Islands disappeared.

(7) I kid you not, these adorable creatures known as Tonberries are the most feared in _Final Fantasy_ games since their first appearance. They are capable of killing you with one hit and if not…then their karma is definitely a bitch when you hit them with a REAL damaging attack. This is why it's best to have a healer on your team, followed by a person set for offensive attacks and such…look up a video on YouTube.

(8) I am making a reference to the first place in a _Final Fantasy_ games that the Cactuars have first appeared…which was in _Final Fantasy VI_. I really adore these monsters…as for the Jumbo Cactuar…if you ever run into a GIANT cactus with a mustache in the middle of the desert…you know you're screwed. XD

(9) Somehow, I managed to turn this quote **Hestic** gave me, thank you **Hestic**, into something with a more serious meaning. It was meant to be humorous, but it turned out differently…well, yeah, if course it would. This island is being infested with hell-spawn creatures! DX

(10) Cecil and Rosa Joanna Harvey are from _Final Fantasy IV_…yeah, I know I'm including a lot of _IV_ characters, but they were the best I got since they were good examples as teachers for certain classes! DX

(11) Think of the heart that is always seen in the title of the games, Kingdom Hearts…you know that heart. It's always shown in the title of a KH game…

(12) Thus is the fate of our mostly Final Fantasy X with one VIII group…yeah, how do you know if they're gone, huh? And Valefor is Yuna's Aeon…yeah, already explained that.

(13) That was Holy and those were Sora's parents…yeah, their fate is similar to group of kids before them: unknown.

(14) I played Re: Coded and got a lot of ideas off of it involving memories. Kairi and Gabby are amnesiacs who have no recollection of their past…save for Gabby's memory of Chocobos. Yeah, this is going to play a bit of a role in this story since, well, might as well find a way to explain Kairi's background one step at a time…

Also, guess who that woman is! Think: How many blue haired women are in the _Kingdom Hearts_ series? There's your hint.

And that was chapter four! :D I am on roll…NO FLAMES! DX

Constructive criticism is always welcomed and reviews just make my days…yeah… Wait patiently for the next chapters! Till next time, KD out! XD


	5. Welcome to Traverse Town!

Pluto walked closer to the boy and continued to sniff at him, finding the scent coming from his hair pleasant. Pluto sniffed the boy a few more times before licking him on the cheek. This roused the boy from his unconscious state.

The first thing a hazy-eyed Sora first saw…was a yellow dog with long, black ears and a green collar around its neck. The spiky-haired boy, having just woken up, came to the conclusion that he was still asleep, just…he was dreaming.

He moaned and began to doze off as he sluggishly said, "What a dream…"

The second the boy dozed off, Pluto took action and pounced on the boy's stomach, effectively both waking him up and scaring the living daylights out of him. The mixture of shock and some pain caused the boy's eyes to snap open.

"Aagh!" he yelled.

Sora was definitely wide-awake, now. He breathed in and out heavily as he tried to calm his pounding heart. He looked around with his blue eyes wide open and saw the yellow dog again.

"This isn't a dream!" he exclaimed.

Pluto just stared at the boy, his tongue hanging out to the side as he panted. Pluto watched as Sora turned to Gabby, who sitting next to him, and very carefully did he nudge her. Gabby groaned slightly and opened her eyes slowly.

"Did anyone get the number of that guy who was supposed to be my Mage during training?" she said sluggishly. "Stupid inexperienced Mage and his blizzard magic…stupid Bombs…huh?"

Gabby turned to Sora and then the dog, after spotting the yellow-furred canine. She blinked a few times and then rubbed her eyes before looking at the two again.

"Sora…we're not dreaming, are we?" she asked.

Sora looked at Gabby with a deadpanned expression.

"Gabby…if this were a dream…then why am I in it?" asked Sora.

Gabby blinked a few times and yawned. "Because you were in my last dream."

Gabby stretched her arms out, freezing when she realized what she just said. She looked at Sora, who was just quiet. A moment of awkward silence ensued for the first three minutes until…

"You didn't hear anything," said Gabby.

Sora nodded and replied, "Agreed."

Pluto just stared at the two kids, rather intrigued with their behavior. He watched as the boy, Sora, use the wall and the crates he was up against to rise to his feet. Sora stumbled a bit, but managed to regain some sense of equilibrium by grabbing a hold of a crate for support. He winced as he heard his bones pop from his weird sleeping position.

After a few moments, Gabby, looked up at Sora with a questioningly look.

"Where are we?" asked Gabby.

Sora gazed around at their surroundings and frowned…he didn't know where they were aside from the fact that they were most likely standing in an alleyway. And even then, there wasn't much to see aside from a dead end with a weird, red mark on it and come crates and barrels.

"I…don't know," replied Sora.

Gabby frowned and looked at the yellow dog curiously. She maneuvered herself onto all fours and crawled over to the dog. The yellow dog continued to pant, his tongue still hanging out of his mouth as he stared at the brunette. Gabby was only a few more inches away from the dog when it suddenly walked up to her and sat right in front of her. She blinked a few times before noticing a small, silver tag embedded on his green collar.

Gabby gently grabbed the dog's collar and looked over it until she found the silver tag. Five letters were engraved on the tag, reading:

"'Pluto'…" she read.

The dog's perked up to his name being called. Gabby looked at the dog and smiled at him.

"So…you're Pluto…" said Gabby. "Well, Pluto…do _you_ know where we are?"

She wasn't really expecting an answer, but it was worth a try. Besides, there wasn't anyone else to ask, aside from Sora, who she already asked. Pluto just continued to pant happily, his right ear perking up to a sound only his sensitive ears could hear.

Pluto turned around and raced out of the alleyway, leaving Sora and Gabby alone.

"Hey!" Gabby called out to Pluto.

Sora sighed and said, "Just…just let him go…we need to figure out where we are. Remember the rule of exploring."

Gabby sighed and nodded her head as she said, "Yeah…when in doubt and unaware, look around to be aware."

In other words, they both had to do some reconnaissance, or recon, for short. This was proving to be rather difficult, seeing as both kids were rather worn out. And if last year's seventh grade endurance test proved anything, it was that both Sora and Gabby had a lot of work to achieve their endurance duration appropriate for their age once they turned fourteen.

"Gah!" yelped Sora.

Sora clutched his head as he felt a dizzying sensation overwhelm his senses for ten seemingly long seconds.

"_Okay, this isn't good…"_ thought Sora. _"Great, let's just hope we do well without a Mage…"_

Because without a White Mage to keep the two from passing out, Sora and Gabby were pretty much…oh, how to put it in simpler terms? Oh, they were screwed.

Sora sighed and held out his hand to Gabby to help her off the ground. It was at this point that both realized that they needed each other for support, having been incapable of standing on their own as they stumbled in place. Sora placed his arm around Gabby's shoulder as Gabby did the same with her arm around Sora's shoulder. After a bit of maneuvering, both Sora and Gabby were now walking towards the direction Pluto raced off to.

Moments later, Sora and Gabby stared wide-eyed in alarm at the sight that lied before them. The neon lights from the nearby shops and the few scattered street lamps lit the town up, in spite of the darkness of night. Sora looked out into the street and at the people who wandered about. He couldn't recognize this place at all…neither did Gabby. Both kids had never seen this town in their entire life. It was all new to them…

"This is totally weird…" said Sora. "We're in another world!"

Gabby blinked as she spotted a white creature with small wings on its back and a red pom-pom hanging from the top of its head. It was walking nonchalantly down the street among the other human-looking people that stood about. The creature seemed oddly familiar…

"Hey…where's Riku and Kairi?" asked Gabby.

Sora looked at Gabby and frowned as he replied, "I…I really don't know."

Gabby frowned and let go of Sora in an attempt to stand on her own. The attempt was a fail, seeing as her current state of fatigue and loss of equilibrium sent her back until her back stopped against a door…only to suddenly crash through it as this door was a pull and push type of door.

"Aagh!" she exclaimed.

THUD!

Gabby yelped, having just landed painfully on her tailbone on the ground. Sora winced, having seen the whole thing. He stumbled over to the doorway to help up his friend when suddenly, a rather gruff and masculine voice called out to them.

"Hey there, how can I…" the voice trailed off.

Sora and Gabby looked at who it was. Standing behind a counter, was a man with short, blond hair and a lit cigarette in his mouth. The man seemed to be around his early thirties and wore a white T-shirt with baggy blue pants that had a very wide, orange waistband with thin, vertical stripes on it. He wore a pair of goggles with a packet of cigarettes strapped underneath the band.

The man's face fell when his eyes set on them. (1)

"Aw, it's only a pair of kids…" he grumbled.

Sora tightened his fists and clenched his teeth.

"I'm not a kid!" he exclaimed. "The name's Sora!"

The man ignored Sora and took one more smoke of his cigarette before taking it out of his mouth and snuffing it out on a nearby ashtray on the counter. A few moments had passed before the man lit a new cigarette in his mouth.

Sora scowled and snapped, "Are you listening to me?"

"Okay, okay, simmer down," said the man. "I heard you the first time."

The man took out his cigarette from his mouth and exhaled a small puff of smoke. He looked at Sora and then at the girl on the ground. He pointed at her and asked, "And you are?"

"Gabby," she answered.

The man arched his brow at the girl and asked, "That wouldn't happen to be short for, 'Gabrielle', would it?"

Gabby tilted her head to the side in question.

"How do you know?" she asked.

The man placed his cigarette back into his mouth and replied, "Just a guess…now get in here, you two. You look like you're about to pass out."

No sooner had the man said that did both Sora and Gabby pass out. The man looked at the two kids and inhaled deeply before sighing out a long stream of smoke.

"Damn it, not again…" said the man.

Sometime later,

Sora woke up to the faint scent of cigarettes. He blinked his eyes a few times and sat up, having been on a bed. He looked around and found himself in a decent looking room. Some spears hung on the wall inside a small, glass-cased rack made especially for holding them. Blueprints of certain machinery were pinned onto the wall, some of them rolled up and placed within a small basket.

To the left of the room, was a desk with a dimly lit lamp, pencils, and nearly finished blueprint. To the right of the room, was a large dresser with a few packets of cigarettes on the top of it and an elegantly framed photo. The photo was of a young woman in her early twenties. She was a kind-looking lady with a pretty face and long, brown hair pulled up into a simple ponytail. Her warm, brown eyes were framed behind a pair of oval-shaped lens glasses. (2)

Sora yawned and took another look around. Aside from a discarded navy blue jacket on the red-carpeted floor…nothing else seemed to be of his interest. Sora stretched his arms over his head and froze when he felt a small movement to his side. He turned to his left on the bedside and noticed a small movement under the blue blanket right next to him.

Sora carefully moved his hand to the blanket and slowly pulled off the covers. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Gabby, curled up under the blanket, sound asleep. Sora rubbed the back of his head as he tried to recall what happen.

Okay, he and Gabby met this old man in this shop of some sorts and that's about it. They must've passed out… Yawning, Sora got out of bed and blinked owlishly as he felt the soft carpeting on his foot. He looked down and saw two pairs of shoes. One was a pair of large, yellow shoes, and the other was a pair of black sandals. The yellow shoes were obviously his and the other…obviously Gabby's, seeing as she was the _only_ one who wore penny loafers in the first place. She _was_ still wearing her school uniform…

Shrugging, Sora continued without his shoes as he made his way towards the door at the end of the room. He grabbed and turned the doorknob to the side before opening the door and entering a hallway. Sora made his way down the hallway until he came to a stop at a flight of stairs leading down. Placing his hand on the railing for support, Sora walked downstairs and entered a kitchen of some sorts.

Sora looked around and the first thing he saw was the man he and Gabby had met earlier. He was sitting at a small table with a plate full of rice balls, a few small cups, and a teapot in the center of the table. The man was currently reading a newspaper, reaching for a cup on the table to take a sip of what seemed to be tea. As he set the cup back down onto the table, he spotted a glimpse of red out of the corner of his eyes and grinned. He looked up at Sora as he rolled up the newspaper.

"About damn time you woke up, kid," said the man. "For a minute there, you almost had me worried. As for yer kid sister…a few hours of sleep will do her good. Just let her rest."

Sora's eye twitched, having just been referred to as a kid again.

"The name's Sora, not kid, gramps…" said Sora.

The man grinned at Sora as he replied, "I know and I ain't no damn gramps! The name's Cid Highwind, Cid, for short. Take a joke, will ya?"

Sora blinked a few times and pointed at the man. "Wait…your name is Cid?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out," said the man. "Why?"

"I had a teacher name Cid…" said Sora. (3)

Cid arched his brow at Sora. "Oh, really? What did he teach?"

"Al Bhed…he was Al Bhed himself," replied Sora.

Cid blinked a few times and looked at Sora questioningly. "What the heck is Al Bhed?"

"I rather not explain…there is a long history involving the Al Bhed," Sora said, placed his hand on his forehead. "By the way, that girl is not my sister…she's just my friend."

"She's not?" he said, scratching his head thoughtfully afterwards. "Could've sworn…I mean the resemblance…"

"Trust me…she is anything but my sister or even family…well, biologically," Sora said, frowning when he remembered what happened.

"Why the long face, Sora?" asked Cid. "Were you and your friend lost or somethin'?"

"I just lost my parents…" said Sora.

Cid frowned and patted the table as he said, "Come over here and tell me all about it. And while you're at it…eat. It'd do you some good."

Sora blushed slightly as he heard a rather loud growl rumble in his stomach.

Cid laughed. "No use denying it!"

Sora laughed nervously and walked over to the table the man sat by. He sat down in the chair in front of Cid and grabbed a rice ball.

"So, where to start?" Cid asked as he poured Sora a cup of tea. "Tell me…where did you come from?"

Sora blinked a few times, having started eating his rice ball already. After some chewing, he swallowed and replied, "Well…my name is Sora, as you already know, and I come from Destiny Islands."

"Destiny Islands, eh?" Cid asked as he passed Sora the cup of tea. "So what brings you to Traverse Town?"

Sora looked questioningly at Cid. "Traverse Town?"

Cid nodded, "Traverse Town…how did you get here?"

"I just woke up here with my friend…" said Sora.

Cid nodded. "So what happened before you woke up?"

Sora began to explain about what happened to him the past night. About how he lost his friend, Riku, to what seemed to be darkness. To how his friend's sister disappeared right before her own eyes…how those creatures invaded the islands…and the orb above them along with that huge creature and what was left of the islands. And then what happened afterward before he and Gabby passed out.

"And that's about it," said Sora. "Right now…I just want to find Riku and Kairi…and anyone from the islands. So tell me about Traverse Town."

Cid nodded and scratched the back of his head. "This place, here, is where refugees from other worlds come to when they lose their world. Since you're here…well…I don't know how to put it, but your world…is gone."

Sora's expression dimmed as he looked down. "I kinda figured that's what happened…"

THUD!

Sora and Cid turned to the stairs to see Gabby, her arms holding the railing for support as her feet suddenly lost their ability to stand. She had been here for a while, now, having woken up moments after Sora left the room.

"So, everyone _is_ gone…" she said, looking down.

Cid shrugged as he replied, "Well, that depends if they found this world or not. You can look around for them, if you want, but for now…get something to eat."

Gabby nodded. "Okay…"

…

…

Cid stared at Sora and Gabby as they ate. They were eating rather well, so he didn't need to worry about their appetite. The two were no longer worn out as they were when Cid first encountered them. All things aside, Cid could only question one thing: were they able to defend themselves?

They had managed to make it this far, but for all he knew, Sora and Gabby might have been just lucky. Lighting a new cigarette, Cid spoke, breaking the silence.

"You two…how well are you at fighting?" asked Cid.

Sora arched his brow at Cid after he swallowed. "With each other or just fighting in general?"

"In general…" said Cid.

Gabby looked at Cid. "Well, let's see…Sora's mostly a Warrior at this point, he has a very good experience with swords, but he can't cast Magic for crap—"

"_Yet_," Sora interjected, looking sternly at Gabby.

Gabby ignored Sora as she continued. "As for me…well, I can't handle a sword with a decent reach because of my height…nah…and for the most part, I'm a bit of a Thief."

Cid narrowed his eyes at Gabby. "You steal any of my stuff and count your ass getting whooped by me. I've had enough already with the Thief I have in my care…"

"Understood!" said Gabby. "Uh…what do you mean by that, exactly?"

Cid sighed and shook his head. "You'll see soon enough…I suggest you two keep your money where you can see it."

Sora nodded. "I'll note of that…so…you're a Dragoon." (4)

"How do you know that?" asked Cid.

Sora jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "I saw your spears in your room and just assumed."

Cid arched his brow at Sora. "I got a question for ya…how do you know so damn much about these things?"

"We've been taught since kindergarten to defend ourselves," replied Sora. "Outside of our island, there are monsters inhabiting areas. Anyone wishing to leave the island is required to graduate first from our island's academy…"

"Sounds like what my kids have to go with," Cid mused as he brought his cigarette to his mouth.

Sora looked questioningly at Cid. "Kids…?"

"They're not mine…they're refugees, like you two," explained Cid. "They, like you, are also in a similar situation."

Gabby frowned. "So they also lost their home…"

Cid looked down. "Yeah, our home…by the way, that's a nice ring you have."

Gabby blinked and held up her left hand, her gaze focusing on the ring on her finger. She frowned as she remembered who had given it to her.

"Why the long face?" asked Cid.

Sora sighed and replied, "She lost her fiancé…"

Cid looked wide-eyed at Sora and then at Gabby. "Fiancé? Why the hell does she have a fiancé? She's like only eight or nine…"

Sora laughed nervously as he held up his index finger. "Actually…"

Gabby scowled at Cid. "I'm thirteen, for your information."

"Well, _excuse_ me, little lady," said Cid.

Gabby stood up from her seat and glared at Cid. "Don't…call…me…_little_."

"She prefers fun-sized," said Sora. "You might want to start using that term…"

"I'll keep that in mind…" said Cid. "Still…aren't you a little young to be engaged?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Well, our island has this thing called the proposal pact…"

"I'm listening…" Cid said, taking a smoke from his cigarette.

One explanation later,

"So she's practically set until graduation?" Cid questioned, snuffing out his cigarette in an ashtray.

"Well, assuming she says yes, then yeah," said Sora.

As Sora and Cid continued to converse with each other, they were unknowingly angering Gabby as she felt ignored. She clenched her teeth, her eyes closed as a vein popped out on her forehead.

"You guys…" she growled. "Will you shut up?"

Sora and Cid stopped talking as they turned to Gabby. She was mad…

"I'm still not comfortable with the subject of my possible engagement being brought up and talked about," said Gabby. "You mind moving onto a new subject?"

…

…

…

"Er-hem, seeing as you two are up and about, I think you're ready to look for your friends," said Cid. "Follow me, I'll get you two started out."

Cid got up from his seat and began make his way towards the door. The two teenagers trailed after Cid, their thoughts now focusing back to what they found most important…looking for their friends.

Moments later,

Sora and Gabby stood on the other side of the counter. Cid walked up to them and set down a box he had just received from the item shop just right across from his shop.

"All right, you two," said Cid. "Got yer basic healing items, right here. Got your Panaceas, Ethers…well, you don't need them, and your standard HP restorative, right here! All for free…you're on your own after this, so I suggest you use them wisely."

Sora and Gabby peered into the box, looking over the contents carefully. After a few moments of searching, they looked up at Cid.

"No elixirs?" asked Gabby.

"We kinda have a small town, here," said Cid. "Elixirs are hard to come by, so each of us has to salvage whatever we could find. Potions and Hi-Potions are the best we got, aside from the Mega-Potions, but those only work in groups. Besides, you two can use Magic, so you shouldn't even be complaining… Now for yer defense items…hold on once sec!"

Cid reached under the counter and took out a small case. He opened the case and held it out for the two teenagers to see.

"Now take yer pick," said Cid. "Bandannas' are to yer right for defense increase and Chaos Anklets are to yer left—"

"No Protect Chains?" Sora interjected..

Cid's eye began to twitch as he was _this_ close to snapping. "We're out—and interrupt me again, and I'll get my spear…"

Silence…

"Okay, any questions aside from the lacking items you want?" he asked.

There was no answer from either of the two teenagers. Sighing, Sora grabbed a black bandanna with silver fleur-de-lis on it and a black anklet that had three blue, green, and red crystal charms on it with the large navy blue bead hanging from the middle. He might as well make do with whatever defense accessory he was able to get.

"_The minute I find a Protect Chain, I'm ditching the Chaos Anklet…"_ thought Sora. It was too feminine for his tastes…

Meanwhile with Gabby, she wasn't complaining with the Chaos Anklet. She knew her items well and the Chaos Anklet was more or less a good item like a Protect Chain. She, however, left the bandannas behind…she still had her ribbons. (5)

"I see you're already prepared with ribbons," said Cid. "Where'd you get them?"

Gabby blinked and smiled as she looked at the ribbon on her left wrist. "A friend gave them to me…"

Sora looked at the ribbons and let out a puff of air. _"Seymour probably gave them to her…"_

Before Seymour proposed to Gabby, he had been known to give Gabby gifts consisting of defense accessories and weapons. Sora never knew why until now, where it was obvious.

Cid grinned at the two teens. "Okay! Good luck with your search… If you ever run into trouble, you come to me…and I mean both of you. I'll look out for you two, ya got that?"

Sora and Gabby nodded their heads.

* * *

…

…

…

Sora tied his bandanna around his neck while Gabby placed on her Chaos Anklet. The two were currently standing just outside of the Accessory Shop, having collected their items. Sora had most of the items in his possession, seeing as he more pockets than Gabby.

The two had seen enough of this area when they first woke up, so rather than search this area closely, they decided to save it for last. For now, the two wanted what was beyond this area. According to Cid, there were three districts that were open for exploring. This area was the First District.

Sora walked up a set of stairs and turned to his left, where the road was lit up brightly by a group of neon green street lamps. Gabby trailed after him as Sora began to walk in that direction, and continued to follow the road. At the end of the road was a large set of double doors. Sora stared at the door, looking at Gabby questioningly.

"Should I open it?" he asked.

Gabby sighed and pushed Sora aside. "Let me do this…"

Sora narrowed his eyes at Gabby and sighed as he shook his head. He decided not to bother even making a comeback…no, he was not in the mood. Besides, there were more important matters at stake for him to worry about.

Sora followed after Gabby as she pushed opened the door. The two walked in, now finding themselves in the Second District.

It may have been the lack of lighting that the Second District had, but it seemed to have been washed over in shades of blue and gray. There were two levels, a lower level and an upper level.

The lower one looked like it was used for large crowd gatherings, as it was mostly empty and flat. The only things decorating the lower level were a few benches against the wall and a small fountain on the wall nearest a set of stairs that led up to the upper level.

The upper level didn't have much, apart from a few shops with dimly lit display windows. From the entrance, the upper level split into two walkways. The walkway on the right led to the set of stairs, while the one on the left led down to a large building that had a series of archways on the roof.

The Second District seemed safe enough, so the two teenagers proceeded on…and then a loud scream made their blood run cold. Sora and Gabby froze as the saw a man dashing into their path. The man held a panicked expression on his face as he ran away so desperately from something. It didn't help much and only made the man panic even more when he tripped over his own feet and landed on the ground.

A sudden, strange sound resounded in the air. It seemed almost familiar, though Sora and Gabby couldn't quite place it.

The man rolled over onto his back, staring at a spot in the air, his breathing coming in short gasps. Sora and Gabby watched in alarm as a spot on the left side of the man's chest gleamed brilliantly, and a glowing heart appeared. It hovered over the man for a moment; glimmering brilliantly, as the man's body began to grow transparent. Eventually, the man faded into a dark purple light. At the same time, something that looked like a small black hole appeared not so far from where the man had been.

The heart began to haphazardly move toward the black hole until it had merged with it and then vanished. In its place appeared something that looked like a larger version of the hell-spawned creatures Sora and Gabby had seen on the island. However, this creature was dressed in dark soldier clothes, complete with a shiny metal helmet. It was there for a moment, and then vanished in a flash.

Sora and Gabby stared at the spot the man once resided in, wide eyed in shock as there was no trace of him whatsoever. Unbeknownst to them, a hell-spawned creature stood just a few feet away from them, however…this one didn't seem to show any ill intent like the others. All it did was just stand there and looked over itself, confused most likely.

* * *

…

…

…

"_Where…am I?"_ it thought.

The creature looked over itself. A sudden thought popped up in mind and had the creature disturbed…

"_Collect…hearts?"_ it thought. _"Why…would I do that?"_

_**Destroy…the wielders…destroy…and collect hearts…**_

The creature shook its head and ignored the voice in its head. It wouldn't do that, no…it wouldn't.

_**Fool…**_

The creature had its hands on its head, trying so desperately to ignore the voice.

"_Get…out…of…my head!"_ it screamed in its thoughts.

FLASH!

A small, bright light flashed, momentarily blinding the creature. The creature blinked a few times and noticed that the voice in its head…it was gone.

"_No…not gone, repressed,"_ the creature thought.

Memories of what the creature had before arriving to the Second District seemed to have passed its mind… It couldn't even remember who or what it was…before this.

"_What…am I?"_ it thought.

…

…

…

* * *

Gabby blinked as she spotted something rather peculiar. It was an ink-black creature…normally, by now, she would have attacked it. However, something inside her told her not to…and she could see why.

It seemed harmless…and confused. Arching her brow, Gabby made her way towards the creature, leaving Sora behind.

Sora was currently eying a treasure chest was that was located on the top of an awning. He walked over to it and then jumped up, grabbing onto the ledge of the awning. Sora pulled himself up and crawled over to the treasure chest.

"_Wonder what's inside…"_ he thought as he opened the chest.

Inside…was a post card. Sora narrowed his eyes as he grabbed the card.

"_The hell?"_ he thought. _"This is worst than what I had to deal with in my dream!"_

At least he got a potion there!

Meanwhile with Gabby,

Gabby stared at the creature in front of it. Having been given a chance, for once, to get a closer look at a creature, she no longer found them terrifying and creepy…she actually found them rather adorable…

"Hello," she said.

The creature jolted, quickly turning around to face Gabby. It stared at her questioningly, tilting its head to the side in question. It jumped back a bit when Gabby knelt down in front of it.

"C'mon, I won't hurt you…" Gabby reassured, holding out her hand.

The first thing she learned about befriending monsters in Beast Master Class was to act calm and gentle… This proved effective as the creature slowly, but steadily, walked closer to Gabby.

There was something about her that made the creature feel…calm. Its confusion seemed to fade as it walked closer and closer to Gabby. The creature's beady eyes widened as it suddenly jumped Gabby.

Gabby didn't have time to react and just closed her eyes, waiting for the creature to attack…she had let her guard down and now…she was going to pay for it. Though, why didn't the pain come? Gabby opened one eye and then the other seconds after as she realized…the creature was hugging her.

She blinked and tentatively placed her hand on the creature's head. A small light flashed from the contact her hand had with the creature.

"Wha?" she said.

The creature blinked and looked at Gabby. Gabby looked at the creature and smiled.

"So I take it you don't want to kill me…" said Gabby.

The creature nodded its head. It didn't want to kill her…the voice wanted that, not it, the voice. And the creature, for one, didn't like the voice in its head. The creature blinked as Gabby wrapped her arms around it as she stood up. Gabby now held the creature in her arms, smiling as she felt as if she did something good.

"_I wonder if Sora will let me keep it…"_ was what she first thought.

…

Sora groaned as he made his way over to Gabby. The post card he had found in the treasure chest had him bummed.

"_Fricken' postcard…"_ he thought. "Hey, Gabby!"

Gabby turned around to face Sora. "Yeah…?"

"Let's go—!" Sora trailed off as he noticed something rather unsettling.

One of the hell-spawned creatures that killed a Tonberry was in his friend's arms?

"Gabby, put that thing down before it kills you!" he exclaimed.

Gabby blinked owlishly as she gently embraced the creature in her arms. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face.

"Gabby…I'm serious, let it go…" said Sora.

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Sora. "Oh, c'mon, Sora! He means no harm! Look at him!"

Gabby held up the creature to Sora. Sora blinked as he stared at the creature right in the eye. The creature blinked owlishly before narrowing its eyes and raising its claws at Sora.

SLASH!

"Gah, bastard!" Sora yelled as he backed away, clutching his face. "That's it, let it go! That thing just slashed me…"

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Sora as she threw a potion at him. Sora caught the potion in his hand and uncorked the jar. He had barely brought the jar to his lips and started drinking the contents when Gabby suddenly said, "Fred just doesn't like you…"

Sora did a spit-take in reaction to that comment, nearly choking when some of the potion went down the wrong pipe. He coughed a few times before he stared at Gabby with a wide-eyed expression.

"Did you just _name_ that thing?" he exclaimed.

*hissing*

Sora focused his attention on the creature in Gabby's arm. Yeah, it definitely didn't like him…but that wasn't important! Gabby just gave that…that…_thing_—a name!

"Gabby, this is a serious matter and you fricken' name one of those things!" exclaimed Sora. "They _killed_ a _Tonberry_!"

Gabby scowled at Sora. "His _name_ is _Fred_…and this little guy isn't like the others…ain't that right, Fred?"

The creature, Fred, held up his hands in a manner that resembled two thumbs-up. Sora blinked a few times.

"Holy crap…that thing can actually think!" he exclaimed.

"His name his Fred and I think that pretty much is what sets him apart from those other creatures," said Gabby. "So…can I keep him?"

Sora narrowed his eyes at Gabby. "Hell…no."

So far, his opinion of Fred was that of a deceiver. That thing slashed him…what made him think that Fred wouldn't try the same thing with him and Gabby when they both least expected it? Fred couldn't be trusted…

"Just drop…Fred, and let's go," said Sora. "Remember, we gotta look for our friends."

Gabby frowned and looked at Fred. "I'm sorry…but my jerk of a friend won't let you come along…"

Fred nodded and jumped out of Gabby's arms. It had been great while it lasted…just as Fred was about to start walking away, a sudden blur of white dashed past Sora and Gabby, taking Fred along with it. Sora and Gabby had no clue what just happened…but Gabby seemed rather ticked.

"Great, now Fred's gone…he was my one and only best friend!" Gabby wailed. (6)

"You barely even knew the thing for like ten full minutes!" snapped Sora. "Gah…why didn't it attack?"

"Maybe some Beast Master got to Fred and managed to tame him?" suggested Gabby. "If anything, maybe Relm Arrowny actually made it off the islands. Maybe these creatures can be tamed…"

Relm Arrowny was D.I. Academy's Beast Master Teacher as well as the art teacher. She had a way with using her magic to bring her art to life. (7)

Sora placed his hand on his chin, finding Gabby's suggestion rather reasonable. "It makes sense…but I'm not sure about that. Fred was able to think…those creatures…it's as if they act on instinct alone."

Gabby crossed her arms and let out a puff of air. "Well, whatever it is…Fred's gone. Let's go back to looking for our friends."

"About time…" muttered Sora.

Gabby turned around and was about to take a step when she froze in mid step. "Uh…Sora…?"

Sora heard a small rustle behind him and narrowed his eyes. "Oh, god dammit…"

As if Sora hadn't had enough of the hell-spawned creature that was Fred, there were even more of those hell-spawned creatures _behind_ him…and surrounding him and Gabby.

"Well…crap," said Sora.

Gabby looked at Sora. "What do we do now?"

"There's only one thing left to do in a situation like this," said Sora.

A few moments later,

"Run like hell!" exclaimed Sora.

Sora could be seen running past many of the hell-spawned creatures as he dragged Gabby alongside him in an attempt to flee. He was not up for fighting any of the creatures! With their limited amount of items and no White Mage whatsoever on their team, Sora wanted to avoid as many unnecessary fights as possible!

"Are you serious?" exclaimed Gabby. "Running away? We could easily take them down!"

Sora looked over his shoulder at Gabby. "Gabby…we are limited on items and we have no White Mage! It is _stupid_ to go into battle unprepared!"

"Oh…well, where to?" asked Gabby.

Sora looked around and abruptly slid to a stop, nearly causing Gabby to crash into a wall. Gabby clenched her teeth as her face was merely a few inches away from the wall she almost crashed into. That was seriously…too close!

"Okay…what was that for?" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora directed Gabby to a sign that was above them. It read "Hotel" and seemed simple enough…

"This hotel…maybe one of our friends made it to this hotel!" Sora said as he pushed open the hotel's doors. He turned to look back at Gabby, his eyes widening as he noticed the incoming hell-spawned creatures behind her. "We better get going!"

Gabby blinked and yelped as Sora grabbed her arm and practically _threw_ her into the hotel. Sora entered the hotel afterwards, but not before closing the door behind him. Sora tried to calm his pounding heart as he kept his back against the door, forcing it shut.

Meanwhile with Gabby…well, she found herself facedown on the ground…yet again, only this time, there was no sand. Just one recently waxed floor…

* * *

Meanwhile,

Moments after Sora and Gabby entered the hotel, Donald and Goofy had walked into the Second District, having spent nearly a full day searching around Traverse Town without having seen any sign of Leon. However, in Donald's case, he had managed to at least figure out where his three nephews had gone to. They were in charge of running the Item Shop in the First District and for them, business was good!

Goofy looked left to right a few times before looking down at Donald. "Doesn't look like he's here."

Donald crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

"Keep looking!" he quacked.

Wordlessly, Goofy obeyed his friend and walked further into the district once more…maybe this time, they'd find him. Donald followed Goofy soon after, his thoughts focusing back on his three nephews. He was rather miffed with their "No family discounts" policy…

* * *

Back in the hotel,

Sora made use of his perceptivity as he looked at his surroundings. Aside from him and Gabby, the hotel hallway was empty. The hallway was furnished with small tables that had flower vases decked on their surface. Sora noticed that the flowers in the vases were rather beautiful and picked in their most pristine state. Someone had to have recently placed flowers in those vases…

…

Gabby had just gotten off the floor and was currently glaring at Sora in silent rage. She was rather miffed with having been _thrown_ into a hotel and then land on her face, having fallen face-first onto the hotel's floor! That hurt…

"_Fricken' jerk…"_ she thought as she rubbed her cheek.

Sighing, Gabby started walking towards Sora. She blinked as she noticed that he was staring intently at the flowers within a vase.

"They're pretty, aren't they," said Gabby.

Sora unconsciously nodded. "Yeah…but there's something peculiar about these…"

The flowers in the vase mostly consisted of azaleas, lemon blossoms, and one flower Sora recognized, but couldn't quite place what it was. The name seemed to pass his mind…

"Is that a begonia?" Gabby asked, picking out a waxy-looking red flower from the vase.

Sora's eyes widened as realization hit him. The flowers were a warning! Somebody arranged them purposely with these certain flowers with that message in mind! (8)

"Gabby…we're not actually safe," said Sora. "That flower…and the others…it's a warning."

Gabby looked questioningly at Sora. "How do you know?"

"My mother taught me the meanings of certain flowers," replied Sora.

Gabby blinked and stifled back a laugh, much to Sora's annoyance.

"Don't you dare laugh…" Sora said sternly.

…

…

…

Sora scowled as Gabby burst into a fit of laughter. "Gabby!"

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Gabby. "It's just…haha, I never knew you were the type to know stuff like that! Hahaha!"

Sora crossed his arms and glared at Gabby. "Like I said, my mom taught me…are you done laughing?"

Gabby held up her hand as she continued to laugh for a few more moments. Afterwards, she inhaled deeply and sighed as she calmed down.

"I'm good," she said. "So…what's the warning—uh?"

Sora was about to reply when he heard a sound and noticed a change in Gabby's expression. His eyes immediately narrowed in reaction.

"Gods, not again…" he growled. "Where are they this time?"

"They're coming from beneath the doors!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora blinked and turned around, mentally cursing when he saw the hell-spawned creatures, in their current two-dimensional state, crawl underneath the hotel's entrance door.

"How could I forget they did that?" exclaimed Sora. "Screw it, let's get outta here!"

Gabby pulled her arm away from Sora's reach, managing to avoid Sora's grip. She was done being dragged around!

"Sora, I'm not blind!" snapped Gabby. "I can see where I'm going!"

"Then why are we still standing around?" said Sora. "Let's move!"

A few moments later, Sora and Gabby had found out the hard way that the hotel's floors had been recently waxed to the maximum. The floors were so smooth that they had Sora and Gabby nearly slipping on them! On the hindsight, it did keep the hell-spawned creatures at bay as the two made their way towards the exit.

Sora was the first to make it to the door, nearly crashing, no thanks to the floor. Gabby wasn't as lucky as he was and, unlike him, actually crashed through the door.

SLAM!

Sora winced as he stared at Gabby, who was now plastered firmly on the door…face-first.

"_That…had to hurt…"_ thought Sora.

"I…fricken…hate…this…" Gabby said, her voice muffled by the door. (9)

Sora pulled Gabby off the door and dragged her out of the hotel, barely avoiding the cluster of hell-spawned creatures that nearly jumped them…only to crash into the door after it was slammed shut.

Sora stared at the closed doors in front of him and let out a mushroom sigh in relief. He turned his attention to Gabby, wincing when he saw her somewhat battered and disheveled state.

"Gah…we are _so_ not going back in there!" she remarked, somewhat dazedly. "Uh, Sora…can you hand me a Panacea? I think I'm confused…"

Sora looked at Gabby and shook his head, sighing as he reached into his pocket. With everything that had happened, Sora could only wonder _how_ Gabby actually managed to make it this far with him…

Unbeknownst to the two teenagers, moments after they had left the Hotel, Donald and Goofy entered the building. Both groups had managed to avoid crossing paths with each other again.

* * *

…

…

…

Donald and Goofy ran out of the Hotel, rather disheveled from a surprise attack from strange creatures. And if that wasn't enough, the hotel's floors had them crashing into walls before they made it out of the hotel. Aside from that…there was still no sign of Leon.

Donald grunted angrily, putting one hand to his forehead and looking around as Goofy had done before.

"Hmph," he muttered angrily. "Where is he?"

Goofy turned in the opposite direction of Donald, took a deep breath, and cupped his gloved hands around his mouth. "Leeeooon!"

Their voices went unheard by Sora and Gabby as the door to the Gizmo shop closed completely behind them, having just entered the building.

…

…

* * *

The two blinked a few times as they tried to accustom their eyes on the colorful mechanics and gears within the Gizmo Shop. It was bright…gears winded and levers stuck out…the whole place seemed like the inside of a clock. The two crossed the room casually, finding no creatures whatsoever in this area…finally.

Sora stared at a lever he passed by, wondering aloud, "I wonder what these do…"

Suddenly, a strangely familiar sound resounded from behind him. By now, Sora was well aware what the sound was… It was the creatures making their appearance.

Sora growled and grabbed a hold of Gabby's hand as he began to drag her along with him. Hopefully, they could escape the creatures without running this time as they were almost there to the exit. Too bad some of the creatures decided to cross pop out of the ground in front of the two. By now, Sora was beyond annoyed…he was pissed.

"To hell with this!" Sora exclaimed, his key-like sword appearing in his right hand.

Gabby blinked and huffed. "About time!"

…

Sora and Gabby ran out of the Gizmo Shop, slamming the door behind them as they avoiding getting jumped by the creatures…though, just barely as it was the door who kept them from proceeding. Fighting back didn't do much as the creatures just kept re-spawning and attacking. They were down to their last potion because of it.

"So much for conserving items…" muttered Sora.

"I blame you…" said Gabby.

Sora sighed and looked around for anything that seemed of importance…not much, aside from a ladder, which didn't seem exactly safe.

"Well, we're stumped," Sora sighed.

"Not exactly," said Gabby. "We can jump off here!"

Gabby pointed at an opening at the end of the alleyway. Sora blinked and walked over to the end and looked down, noticing that there was a small drop from here to the ground. He also noticed that there was a door down in the alleyway below them.

"Well, only one way to go and that's down," said Sora. "You ready?"

Gabby blinked and nodded. "Yeah…see ya down!"

Sora watched as Gabby jumped off the end and dropped down.

…

Gabby hit the ground with a roll, landing flat on her stomach after tumbling a few times. She stood up and dusted off her clothes, stopping when she heard a small whimper. She looked around, her gaze falling upon a small bundle of white, black-spotted fur. She knelt down and carefully looked it over. Her eyes widened as she realized it was a puppy…a Dalmatian puppy to be precise!

Sora landed firmly on the ground, having just jumped off the ledge. He winced, having landed the wrong way.

"_Gah…not again…"_ he thought. "Ah…"

"Sora, look!" said Gabby.

Sora blinked as Gabby held up a small puppy to his face. Compared to Fred, Sora was actually glad that Gabby had picked up something relatively normal…at least a puppy didn't have the capability to kill anything…

"Where'd you find it?" asked Sora.

"I found…her, on the ground just now," replied Gabby. "I wonder what a puppy's doing here, all alone…huh, there's something on her collar."

There was a small plaque on the puppy's collar that read "Cadpig" in small letters.

"So…you're Cadpig?" said Gabby.

The puppy's tail started wagging at the mere mention of its name. Sora stared at the puppy questioningly.

"How'd she get here?" asked Sora.

Gabby shrugged. "That's what I want to know, but we have to get her out of here. It's not safe."

Sora nodded and looked around, stopping when he spotted a rather intriguing door on the side of the alleyway.

"C'mon, let's go in!" Sora said, directing Gabby over to the door.

Gabby nodded as she stood up, following after Sora as he entered the house the door led to.

A few moments later after entering the house, Donald and Goofy walked out of the Gizmo Shop, feeling rather aggravated…well, Donald was. Goofy was just his carefree self with a bit of concern to his expression.

"Not here either," Donald groaned as he crossed his arms and began to tap the ground impatiently with his foot.

Goofy scratched his head lightly before he looked left to right for any sign of the person they were looking for. "This could take a while…"

Goofy turned around and blinked when he spotted the ladder on the right side of the wall. He walked over to it and, being the sensible person he was, he lifted the ladder and moved it to the right side of the wall. Goofy managed to get the ladder staying perfectly still on the wall as he fixed the first few rungs on the ladder. Donald looked at Goofy slightly annoyed, wondering as to what his friend was doing.

"What are you doing?" asked Donald.

"I'm fixin' this here ladder, ah-hyuck!" said Goofy. (10)

Donald signed and shook his head.

* * *

Back with Sora and Gabby,

Sora looked around the simple living room, taking note how lively it seemed yet…there was something missing. It was most likely the fact that the room was empty and—

_Whimper!_

Sora blinked and turned to see Gabby kneeling down by a blue table in the right hand corner of the room by the doorway. She seemed concern as she petted the air…wait, that wasn't the air! And the room wasn't entirely empty, seeing as under the table, were two Dalmatians. The slender Dalmatian with a blue collar around her neck had her head lowered onto her forelegs in misery. She seemed sad as she whimpered.

The other Dalmatian, the one with black ears and a red collar, tried to comfort his mate as he nuzzled her head. The Dalmatians' collars had a small plaque on the side with letters engraved on them. Gabby slowly leaned in to check on the letters on the name. She first started with the slender-looking female Dalmatian, seeing as the male was a bit more wary of her.

"Perdita…" Gabby read as she carefully read the name on the plaque.

The female Dalmatian only wagged her tail a few times in response before she went back to her concerned state. So that meant this Dalmatian's name was Perdita…

"_Nice name…"_ thought Gabby.

Gabby looked at the other Dalmatian and tried to coax him out as he backed up into the wall. The Dalmatian was stubborn as he kept his distance…it was only until he heard a small whimper come from Gabby's arms that he began to ease up slightly. His ears perked up, as did Perdita's as the small Dalmatian puppy in Gabby's arms wriggled its way out into view. The puppy jumped onto the ground and walked up to Perdita. Perdita focused her gaze on the puppy as it nudged her nose with its nose.

With that done, Perdita lifted her head and nuzzled the puppy. The other Dalmatian finally ignored whatever had kept him at distance from Gabby as his tail began to wag at the mere sight of the puppy. Assuming from how much more happy they seemed, the puppy was definitely theirs.

"So, Cadpig's theirs?" asked Sora.

Gabby nodded as she took this chance to read the name off the male Dalmatian's collar.

"Pongo," said Gabby.

The male Dalmatian turned to Gabby immediately and licked her face.

"So your name's Pongo!" Gabby said, laughing afterwards as Pongo licked her again. "You're welcome!"

Pongo blinked and looked around as he crawled out from under the table and looked around. He spotted Sora, but he felt no ill intention from the boy as he continued on, looking around the room. Pongo neared the door and was about to go through it when he stopped and turned to the duo. He barked at them once, gesturing at them to follow.

Sora and Gabby walked over to Pongo as the Dalmatian used his paws to push the door open. The three entered the next room, which was the living room. Pongo looked around and walked over to the small table in the middle of the room by the couches. His attention was focused on the framed picture on the table as he grabbed it, using his mouth.

Pongo turned and walked back over to Sora and Gabby. He stared at them, his hold on the picture never once letting go until Gabby held out her hand. Pongo gave Gabby the picture and waited patiently for her reaction as she and Sora looked over the picture.

The picture was of Pongo and Perdita with what seemed to be _many_ Dalmatian puppies…there were at least sixty of them, by the looks of it! Hell! There were even more of them!

"Sweet Leviathan!" said Sora. "How the heck do their owners care for these guys?"

Gabby stared at the picture with wide eyes. "That's a lot of puppies…"

"Why is he showing us this picture?" Sora asked Gabby.

Gabby stared at the picture for a full minute, putting two and two together. There were supposed to be more puppies, yet all Pongo and Perdita had was Cadpig…something was wrong.

"Their puppies are missing!" exclaimed Gabby. "He wants us to find the rest of his puppies! We found one of them, so I'd say he wants us to find the rest of all ninety-eight puppies."

Sora's eyes widened. "There's ninety-eight left?"

Sora snatched the picture out of Gabby's hand and began to count the many puppies in the picture. It took him around four minutes to realize that there were ninety-nine puppies in total, Pongo and Perdita making the count one-hundred and one altogether.

"Ninety-eight…that's a lot of puppies to find…" Sora said, noticing that Gabby was frowning. He sighed. "But I guess we should find the rest of the puppies…Pongo…we'll find them. Just leave it to us!"

Pongo barked happily at this comment as he wagged his tail. With that done, Pongo turned and went back to the piano room he was in with Perdita and now, Cadpig. Sora and Gabby looked at each other afterward before diverting their gaze back on the picture. (11)

"That's still a lot of puppies," said Gabby.

Sora grinned. "But we'll manage! Somehow…"

Gabby smiled and held up her fist. "Now onwards—you hold this!"

Gabby gave the picture to Sora before she made her way towards the other door, which led to the dining room. Sora looked at the picture in his hands and sighed as he pocketed. He followed after Gabby, shaking his head when he saw Gabby grab an apple from a fruit bowl.

"Didn't we just eat?" he asked.

Gabby looked at Sora and frowned. "Shut up…"

As the two exited the Dalmatian house, they soon found themselves within an empty alleyway. The only noise that could be heard was the loud crunch Gabby made when she bit into the apple.

"Okay, so we've made it this far and the only thing we've found are creatures and the Dalmatians," Gabby said as she chewed with her mouth full.

Sora sweat dropped as he took away the apple in Gabby's hand. Gabby glared at him for that as she continued to chew.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Sora said, biting into the apple afterwards.

Gabby swallowed and snapped at Sora. "Hey! My apple! Back off!"

Sora dodged Gabby as he took another bite from her apple. This went on for a few minutes until there was nothing left of the apple but just the core. Sora swallowed the last bit in his mouth before giving Gabby the apple core.

"Here you go," said Sora.

Gabby frowned at the apple core and glared at Sora. "Jerk! You're not supposed to steal from a Thief!"

"Call it karma," said Sora.

Gabby held up her fists as she frowned. "But only I have the rights to steal!"

"Does it matter right now?" asked Sora.

Gabby growled at Sora and sighed, deciding to just let it go. At that moment, the darkness-spawned creatures appeared and instead of fighting them off as they usually would have, Sora let out an irritated groan and grabbed onto Gabby's hand.

"To hell with this!" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby couldn't agree anymore with Sora. "Quick, to Cid's Accessory Shop! He promised he'll keep us safe!"

Sora nodded as he and Gabby began to make their way back to the First District.

Ten minutes later,

"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Sora. "Even this place is loaded with them!"

Somehow, the First District had ended up with a small invasion of the creatures, which explained why it was quiet and empty. So much for this safe zone…it was infested.

As the two avoided the creatures, Sora and Gabby never once noticed the young man walking quietly and calmly after them.

The young man was no older than seventeen, at the most. He was of a tall stature and had a slim build, appearing somewhat lanky. He had short, unruly light brown hair with his bangs swept to the left side of his face and blue eyes with a scar running diagonally across the bridge of his nose. He wore a white, low-cut shirt with a black leather bomber jacket with baggy sleeves and a fur trim around the collar.

Along with this, he wore black pants with three interconnecting brown belts around his hips and three black belts on his right thigh as well as black boots and gloves. Around his neck, he wore a silver chain necklace with a pendant resembling that of a lion's head. (12)

A few of the hell-spawned creatures (bear with me on that name, it's gonna change soon) turned their attention away from Sora and Gabby to attack the young man. The man countered using his weapon, which consisted of a fusion that was of a gun and a sword, a Gunblade. The young man went unnoticed as he eradicated the creatures for the boy and girl as they escaped into the safety that was the Accessory Shop.

* * *

In the Accessory Shop,

"Still haven't found 'em?" Cid asked, having seen both kids run into his shop. They looked terrified…

Was it that bad outside? The two were rather mussed up from various fights, but otherwise, they seemed fine. Cid sighed as he continued to chew on the toothpick he substituted for a cigarette… He would be smoking right now, but some brat stole and hid his cigarettes. (13)

"_Damn brat…"_ thought Cid. "So any sign of them?"

Sora hung his head low in dismay as he answered Cid's question. "No…but we did help a couple of Dalmatians find their puppy."

Cid blinked and nodded. "Oh, those two…That's good to hear."

"But still…we couldn't find our friends…" Gabby said, frowning.

"Keep your chin up!" Cid said encouragingly, smiling as he gave Gabby a thumbs-up. "Try takin' another look around town!"

Sora and Gabby looked at Cid agape. Was he serious? They ran out of items!

"No fucking way!" exclaimed Sora. "The whole area is infested with monsters and we ran out of items!"

Cid seemed unfazed with Sora's sudden outburst. He dealt with those creatures longer than Sora had…Sora had no right to complain.

"They killed a Tonberry with one hit!" Sora added.

Cid arched his brow at Sora as he took out the toothpick from his mouth. "What's a Tonberry?"

Sora groaned as he face-palmed. He didn't want to answer this…he was still dealing with his near-death experience with a Tonberry's knife. "Gabby, you…you explain this."

Gabby nodded. "Okay…you okay?"

"Yeah…just…dealing with that near-death experience…" Sora said, sighing.

"What happened?" asked Cid.

"He almost got killed by a Tonberry…" replied Gabby. "Anyways, they're these little green monsters that wear brown cloaks and carry a lantern and a knife with them… When they stab someone with their knife, the go 'DOINK'!"

Cid blinked and nodded. "Oh, you mean the Dinglberries!"

…

"Wait!" exclaimed Cid. "You encountered one of those little bastards and lived? And at your age?"

Sora crossed his arms as he glared at Cid. "Can we change the subject? I'm gonna get nightmares if this keeps up…gah…"

Cid chewed on his toothpick and sighed. "If you're concerned with the creature, don't be, kid…"

"I'm not a kid!" snapped Sora.

Cid stared sternly at Sora."I'm at least ten years your senior and you're under eighteen, which means I have the rights to call you a kid! Now shut the hell up!"

Sora clamped up.

Cid nodded his head firmly in satisfaction. "Anyways, Traverse Town's exterminator is gettin' rid of the little bastards. So don't worry…you'll be okay."

Sora and Gabby looked at Cid questioningly as an imaginary small question mark popped up above their heads as they asked, "Who?"

Cid placed his toothpick back into his mouth, grinning as he said, "You'll see."

Sora and Gabby looked at each other in question before the two shrugged. Sora sighed and turned to the doorway, his key-like sword appearing in hand.

"All right…" he said. "C'mon Gabby, let's go look around…"

Cid watched as Gabby and Sora left the Accessory Shop, leaving him alone. Sighing, Cid turned around and started looking for his missing cigarettes.

"Now where did that brat leave my smokes?" Cid asked himself as he scratched his head.

…

…

…

* * *

Sora sighed as he closed the door behind him. He was exhausted with all the running he and Gabby had to do.

"Sora…you mind helping me with my hair?" asked Gabby.

Sora turned to Gabby and shook his head. Gabby had managed to get her hands tangled up in her hair with a ribbon when she was trying to fix her ponytail. Yeah, it didn't go well…

"Get over here," said Sora.

…

Sora muttered as he untangled Gabby's hands from her ribbon. He couldn't believe it…

"You still can't tie up your own hair?" asked Sora. "Don't tell me Kairi does your hair for you…"

Gabby pouted. "Shut up…"

Sora blinked and grinned. "Heh, hit the nail, didn't I?"

"Just…just give me back my ribbon," said Gabby. "Wait, what are you doing?"

"Hold still, I'll do your hair," Sora said as he pulled back Gabby's hair. "I don't want you getting tangled up again…I mean, seriously, how do you _not_ know how to do your hair? It's just a simple ponytail…unless you were going for a braid…"

"Can you stop making fun of the fact that I can't do my own hair?" snapped Gabby. "I can do it…just, not without a hair tie…"

"What happened to the one you had?" asked Sora.

"…It ripped…" Gabby replied, diverting her eyes to the side. "I only brought one…"

Sora blinked and snorted. "Pfft, picked a good day not to bring an extra hair tie!"

"Sora…" growled Gabby.

Sora just smiled and shook his head. "Fine…there! I even braided it for you…"

Gabby blinked and reached back, grabbing a hold of her now plaited brown hair. It was done rather nicely… Gabby was about to thank Sora when she stopped, realizing something.

"How do you know how to braid hair?" she asked, eyeing Sora questioningly.

Sora looked at Gabby and narrowed his eyes at her. "Once again, my mother…if you laugh, I will hit you."

Gabby held up her arms in her defense. "Whoa, Sora…I didn't mean it that way…"

Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He didn't really mean it, it was just…he missed his mother a lot…and his father. Hell, he missed just about everyone he knew back on the island. He was just about to apologize to Gabby when he realized something.

"We haven't been attacked…" he said.

Gabby blinked and looked around. "Now that you mention it…it's rather empty…"

The First District was eerily silent and desolate than it was before Sora and Gabby entered the Accessory Shop for sanctuary. It was as if the darkness-spawned creatures from hell that had been infesting the First District had suddenly been eradicated of. It was unsettling…

"They'll come at you out of nowhere," a voice suddenly spoke.

Gabby jolted, barely stifling a scream that wanted to leave her. Sora froze, his key-like sword appearing in his right hand out of precaution. He had no clue who had spoken…but he had a feeling that whoever it was, they were close. Slowly, he turned around, looking carefully at his surroundings. His gaze fell upon a young man who had his arms crossed and was leaning back against the Accessory Shop's outer wall.

"W-Who are you?" he asked. "How long have you been standing there?"

It was almost as if the young man had just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Really, he had been standing there this whole time, actually wondering how these two kids had managed _**not**_ to notice him. It took all of his willpower to resist the urge to face-palm.

He stayed silent as he opened his eyes and looked up at the two teenagers. While he didn't know much about the schoolgirl, he did acknowledge who the spiky-haired boy was by the look of the key-like weapon in his hand. Though, that was just about it…anything that went beyond recognition was pushing it as the man was actually disappointed in what he found.

"_A kid…"_ he thought. _"Of all the people…why him?"_

Sighing, he stood up straight and uncrossed his arms as he pointed at Sora.

"And they'll keep coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade," he continued on.

"_There's that name again…"_ thought Sora.

The young man stared at Sora, getting a much better look of the boy. He was surprised with how young Sora was… If he was truly the chosen one…the young man face-palmed.

"_We are so screwed…"_ he thought.

Sora and Gabby stared at the man in question. The man seemed rather disappointed with what he was looking at, which seemed to be Sora.

"But why?" he asked himself as he face-palmed. "Why would it choose a kid like you? Is this supposed to be a joke?"

A vein popped out on Sora's forehead as he scowled at the man. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Gabby nodded. "Yeah…that wasn't nice."

"Never mind…" the man said removing his hand off his face. He started walking towards Sora, holding one hand out. "Now, let's see that Keyblade."

"_What_?" Sora yelled, his eyes widening in a combination of shock and rage. He gripped his sword even tighter as he got into position. "There's _no way_ you're getting this!"

Gabby blinked and held up her index finger. "Uh, Sora…"

"Not now, Gabby…" said Sora. "This is something between me and this guy! You're gonna have to pry this weapon off my cold, dead body…"

"Sora, you idiot, don't give him any ideas!" exclaimed Gabby.

"That could be arranged," said the man.

Sora stared at the man. "Bring it on…"

The man held out his right arm. A white light flashed in his right hand as his weapon, the Gunblade, appeared in it. He held his Gunblade over his shoulder as he replied, "All right…have it your way—?"

The young man stared questioningly at Sora as he noticed the fear in the boy's eyes. It was only until he heard an outburst from the girl that his questions about Sora turned into confusion…especially since he began to question just who this girl was.

"Dammit Sora, of all the days to pick a fight, it had to be to _this_ guy!" exclaimed Gabby. "The guy's a Gunblade specialist!"

Sora looked at the man and let out a long, drawn out exclamation of "FUUUUUUUUUUUU—"

"_How do they know?"_ the young man thought as he stared at the two.

There was definitely more to these two kids then they appeared to be. For one, the spiky-haired boy knew how to hold his weapon rather well, almost as if he had been trained.

"—UUUUUUUUCK!" finished Sora. (14)

Then again, the fact that the spiky-haired boy was only a kid, made the man think twice. He considered this boy…somewhat immature. Still, this boy should not be taken for granted.

Sora bit his lip and held out his arm in front of Gabby. "Gabby…I want you to run and keep on running!"

Gabby blinked and scowled. "Oh, hell no! I am not leaving you with this guy!"

"Just go and get Cid!" exclaimed Sora.

FLASH!

Sora blinked as Gabby pointed her key-like sword at him.

"Look, I can defend myself, okay?" snapped Gabby. "I want to help you out! I just can't lose you…you're the only person I know who made it off the island…so I'm staying!"

Sora frowned as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, when you put it that way—get the hell away!"

Gabby blinked and scowled at Sora as she exclaimed, "You jerk, I was being sincere and you—WAAH!"

Gabby landed onto the ground rear-first, having just been pushed down by Sora. As she rubbed her backside, Gabby glared at Sora, but stopped as she noticed that Sora had just blocked off an attack from the scar-faced young man. Sora held his sword in place as he held off the young man's Gunblade.

"Gabby…just go!" exclaimed Sora. "Please…just go…"

Gabby frowned at Sora. Reluctantly, she got off the ground and began to make a run for it. Who was she to ignore Sora at a time where he was so serious.

"_Please…just be safe…"_ thought Gabby. _"Don't get killed…"_

* * *

…

…

…

"You…You're good," Sora murmured angrily.

"You're not so bad yourself, kid," said the young man.

Sora growled as he increased the force on his Keyblade to push the man back. The man struggled slightly, but kept his composure as he began to push harder.

"I'm…not…a…_kid_!" Sora exclaimed as he continued to push forward, somehow nearly managing to disarm the young man, whom avoided this by jumping back. "It's _Sora_!"

The young man looked at Sora as he placed his Gunblade behind his shoulder. An amused smirk crossed his lips as he commented, "Hmph, you're under eighteen…I'd say that fits the word, 'kid'."

Anger flashed in Sora's eyes as he glared at the young man.

"You're dead!" exclaimed Sora. "You're lucky Lulu isn't here with me, or else you'd been screwed!"

Because Lulu was a godsend due to her Black Magic. She would definitely be fighting back this man if she had been here…

"_I wish she was…then she'd lightning bolt this guy!"_ thought Sora.

This guy, however, wasn't taking Sora seriously! And…was he smirking?

"Gah!" said Sora. "That's it!"

Sora charged towards the young man, ducking when the man swung his Gunblade at the spiky-haired boy. Sora used this chance as an opening as he swung his sword at the young man, landing a nice blow on the man's back. The man grunted and turned around immediately to face Sora, to whom dodge-rolled out of the way.

The young man was unfazed as he perched his Gunblade over his shoulder. He walked over to Sora casually, not once bothering to pick up the pace when Sora started to back away. Sora scowled as he confirmed his assumption about the guy.

"_That…jerk!"_ thought Sora. "Stop holding back!"

The young man looked at Sora and muttered, "Smart kid…you saw right through me."

* * *

Meanwhile,

Gabby panted as she pulled the door to the First District shut, having just escaped to the Second District. She frowned as she felt guilty for leaving Sora behind.

"_But he told me to go…"_ she thought. "Huh!"

Gabby watched as a small ball rolled towards her, stopping when it rolled into her foot. Blinking, Gabby knelt down and picked up the ball, looking it over curiously.

"_Where did this come from?"_ she thought.

Suddenly, a small, but sharp projectile was thrown at Gabby. From where it came from, Gabby didn't have enough time to figure out before it suddenly embedded itself into the ball she had in her hand. Blinking a few times, Gabby let out a shaky sigh.

"_That was close…"_ she thought, her gaze focusing on the ball in her hand.

Gabby looked perplexed at the sharp projectile embedded in the ball she found. It was a shuriken…! Gabby's eyes widened in realization and she dropped the ball. Shuriken were weapons that were usually found in a Samurai or Ninja's arsenal!

BAM!

Gabby shielded herself as the ball she had finished dropping suddenly exploded, releasing a cloud of white smoke from within. The smoke seemed harmless at first, but then Gabby accidentally inhaled some of it and broke into a coughing fit. It wasn't just any regular smoke! The shuriken that was thrown at her…it had to be from a Ninja!

Gabby found her vision going blurry as she started to stumble back. She was losing consciousness…it took only a matter of seconds before she finally blacked out, falling back onto the ground.

THUD!

…

…

Once the smoke cleared, a cloaked figure jumped down from an awning and landed just a few feet away from Gabby's unconscious form. (15)

* * *

Back with Sora,

The young man held out his left hand, his palm facing Sora as small flames began to spin in the palm of his hand. The man concentrated deeply as the flames began to form into a fireball. Sora's eyes widened as in just a matter of seconds, the man lobbed the fireball in his hand at the spiky-haired boy.

Sora didn't have enough time to dodge and he barely blocked off that fireball with his sword. He winced as he felt a throbbing pain in his hands and fingertips. He definitely received some burns…lovely!

"_And I gave my Panaceas to Gabby!"_ thought Sora.

And with no potion on Sora, he was pretty much screwed.

"You don't stand a chance," the man said sternly as he calmly walked over to Sora.

Sora clenched his teeth as he scowled at the man. "Don't rub it in! That was so not fair! Using Magic…I can't even use it!"

"Kid…life's not fair," replied the man. "And there's nothing you can do about it for the most part, so you just learn to deal with it."

"Fine!" exclaimed Sora. "I will! Look over there, it's a Tonberry!"

The man's eyes widened as he turned around, cursing, "Shit!"

Sora blinked a few times, very much stunned with how well that actually worked. Deciding not to waste this chance, Sora sprang forward. The young man never knew what hit him until it actually did and that was right in the arm with a key-like sword.

"_Why the hell did I fall for that?"_ is what he thought. Luckily for the young man, Sora aimed for his left arm and his left arm was free…though that didn't mean it didn't hurt! "Gah!"

Sora's attacks were stronger at this point. Sora had been trained since he was in kindergarten, over the years, his body had developed abilities as well as an autonomic adrenaline system that specifically increased his strength as well as speed in dire situations like this. However, while it was a helpful boost for Sora, it also signaled that he didn't have much time before he passed out from exhaustion.

"_I gotta make this count…"_ he thought.

Sora gathered up all his remaining strength for one final, all or nothing, attack. Sora charged at the man, dodging a swing from the man's Gunblade. Sora managed to deal a forceful blow on the man moments after dodging…it was enough to bring the man onto one of his knees.

The man strained to get back onto his feet, but he couldn't… "There's no way…I can lose…"

Sora breathed in and out hard as he stared at the man, his vision beginning to go blurry. Sora backed up slowly, nearly stumbling by the time he stopped moving. His head spun around so rapidly that he felt like he would fall back any second…but he couldn't!

"_Not…now…"_ he thought. "Now…you're…gonna…you're gonna…"

The young man watched as Sora struggled to stay conscious for a few more moments before finally falling backward. Sora had passed out from exhaustion…

The young man blinked as a green light glowed over himself, healing him of his wounds and revitalizing him. Once the green light waned, the young man stood up from the ground without any difficulties.

"Aw, you're slipping, Squall!" said a rather amused voice.

The young man, Squall, turned to see a young girl with short, black hair and violet-colored eyes. He stared at the girl with a deadpanned expression.

"That's Leon," he corrected. "And…oh, dear Hyne, what are you wearing?"

The girl wore a metal headband with two green tassels hanging out from the back of her head and a long, yellow scarf around her neck. She wore a green tube-top that had two blue belts as straps holding it up, and tan short-shorts with a blue belt around her waist. She had on white socks that reached up to about mid-thigh with orange shoes, and on her arms, she wore mesh sleeves that disappeared into her orange, fingerless gloves.

Leon face-palmed at the mere sight of his partner's attire. It was too small for her…

"Yuffie, what have I told you about that outfit?" he said in a deadpanned voice. "It's too small for you, now…"

The girl, Yuffie, puffed up her cheeks in a childish manner and crossed her arms. "It still fits me fine, _Squall_!"

"That's Leon," Leon corrected as he took off his jacket. He walked over to Yuffie and placed his jacket over the shorthaired girl's shoulders. "Cover up, Yuffie. You have nothing to flaunt, that outfit is nearly seven years old, and you're not eight anymore, so I'd suggest you go to your room and change…"

Yuffie blinked and stuck her tongue out as she looked at Leon's jacket. "Bleh, gross! I don't want your sweaty jacket!"

"Keep wearing that outfit and you'll be getting my jacket more often," Leon remarked.

Yuffie narrowed her eyes and sighed, "Fine! I'll get another outfit…so, what do we do about him?"

Yuffie gestured at the unconscious boy, to which Leon sighed and shook his head.

"I went easy on him…" said Leon. "He's a good fighter, but not much endurance…Looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse…"

Yuffie blinked and brought her fist down into her open palm.

"Worse as in failing your SeeD test?" she suggested.

Leon diverted his eyes on his revealing-outfit-wearing partner. "Yuffie, I'm not Seifer, how should I know?" (16)

Yuffie crossed her arms and placed her hand on her chin. "Feh, good point…"

"Now I just need to look for the girl that was with him…" said Leon.

Yuffie blinked and looked at her partner. "Uh, this girl…was she wearing a school uniform?"

"Yeah…Yuffie, what have you done?" asked Leon.

Yuffie laughed nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I saved you the time of finding her…hell! I even knocked her out!"

Leon stared at Yuffie, shaking his head afterwards as he sighed. "Where is she?"

"I got Aerith to help me carry her back into the hotel," said Yuffie. "We should get going before the knockout gas I used on her wears out or this kid wakes up…which ever happens first."

Leon nodded and turned as he made his way over to Sora.

* * *

…

…

…

Darkness…that was all he could see. The sound of a roaring waterfall was what roused him from his sleep. The silver-haired boy slowly opened his aqua eyes, closing them afterwards as he had yet to adjust to the lighting, having just woken up from a very, dark dream. How long had he been in the darkness?

Riku opened his eyes again once more. The first thing he managed to see before he closed his eyes again was the sight of rising water…

"_How peculiar…"_ thought Riku.

Riku opened his eyes again and this time, he managed to keep them open as he pushed himself off the ground. He winced as he heard his bones pop, having grown a bit stiff from sleeping on the ground in a weird position. It took a lot of effort to get off from his knees onto his legs as he propped himself into a standing position.

The moment Riku finally managed to stand up, a dizzying sensation caused his head to throb. Riku backed up a few steps before managing to regain his sense of balance. Everything…was blank…

"Where am I…?" Riku asked himself.

Memories began to flood his head as a sense of panic rose in his chest. Riku looked around at his surroundings, finding nothing more than rising waterfalls surrounding the sides, a set of floating platforms in the form of broken off pieces of ground, and a strange castle in the distance. He was here…in a different world…but it was just him. That's right!

"Sora!" Riku yelled out, looking around frantically for his best friend. "Kairi! Gabby!"

The beating of his heart began to speed up as he heard no response whatsoever. Riku looked around, depression beginning to settle in his chest as he looked down and sighed. He tried so hard not to cry or anything, but he wasn't able to stop the tear he manage to shed that rolled down his cheek.

"What have I done?" Riku asked himself.

What had he done? Riku really didn't know anymore… He wiped off the tear on his cheek, but that only coaxed out a few more tears that began to trail down his cheeks. He was a mess…

"_What's wrong with me?"_ thought Riku. _"I thought I was stronger than that?"_

Despite however strong he was, Riku was never one to keep emotions bottle up for long…especially at a moment as distressing as this. This side, the one he was showing right now…he really hoped that none of his friends could see him like this.

Riku never noticed the robe-clad woman stepping onto the highest platform. He didn't noticed the horns on her head, the staff she held in her hand, or the amused expression she held on her face. He was too busy worrying about his friends…the ones he had become separated from. If only he hadn't opened that door…

"_And I wanted to become stronger to protect my friends…"_ thought Riku. _"What would _he_ say now if _he_ saw what I have done?"_ (17)

* * *

"Where…am I?" asked a voice.

In a restricted area of the Gizmo Shop, a young, green-eyed brunette had just woken up on the floor. She got up from the ground, clutching her head as a dizzying sensation caused her head to throb. She stumbled back a few steps before falling onto her butt. She winced, rubbing her backside afterwards as she tried to get a hold of her surroundings.

Selphie had no clue whether or not she was dreaming as she looked around herself. It was colorful and bright, but nothing caught her attention that much. Selphie sighed and rubbed her head.

"Oww…my head…" she moaned, suddenly gasping afterwards. "Yuna…Seymour…Wakka…Cassie…Lulu…Tidus!"

Selphie got off the ground and looked around her, frowning when she couldn't find any sign of her friends. She bit her lip and resisted the urge to break down.

"I'm not gonna cry…I'm not gonna cry…" she said to herself.

Selphie sniffed and rubbed her eye. She took another look around, stopping when her gaze fell upon an array of colorful buttons, a large keyboard, and levers. This room she was in…

"It must be the control room or something…" Selphie said as a grin replaced her frown.

Selphie loved to mess around with anything technical, especially when it had buttons! The brunette dashed over to the controls and looked at them, searching specifically for a button that would turn on the monitors.

"Hmm…if I were the 'on' button, where would I…maybe this!" Selphie ecstatically exclaimed as she pushed down on a red button.

The monitors turned on, much to Selphie's delight as she exclaimed, "Booyaka!" (18)

Selphie looked at the monitors, waiting to see what exactly they were for. She waited a few seconds for the screens to load. She blinked when she saw a message in red letters displayed on the monitors.

"Enter Password" it read. Selphie stared at it long and hard before a smile crossed her lips. Selphie Tilmitt of Destiny Islands was known for loving any sort of challenge that involved technology. Cracking a password she didn't know was especially fun for her when there was no pressure.

Selphie grinned as she her fingers twitched in anticipation. "Let's see what the password is…"

* * *

Elsewhere,

Cid had just given up looking for his pack of cigarettes when a trio of young anthropomorphic ducks bolted into his room. The three ducks were identical in appearance, each wearing identical outfits that consisted of a turtleneck and a baseball cap. The only thing that differentiated one duck from the other was the color of their outfits, which was between three colors: red, blue, and green.

These three were Donald's nephews. Huey was the duck in the red outfit, Dewey was the duck in the blue outfit, and Louie was the duck in the green outfit.

"Cid!" the trio exclaimed.

Cid turned his attention to the three ducks. They seemed rather concerned…

"What's wrong, Huey?" he asked.

"Cid, you have to come, quick!" exclaimed Huey.

Dewey nodded as he added, "You have to see this!"

Cid scratched his head. "What is it that you want me to see?"

"More refugees!" exclaimed Louie. "They're unconscious in the alleyway!"

Cid blinked and nodded. "Now you're making sense…lead the way!"

…

…

…

"Here they are!" said Huey.

Cid stared at the two unconscious refugees before him. The older of the two, a girl in her mid teens, had her back against the wall, her arms wrapped around a boy with sandy blond hair as she held him against herself.

"When'd they get here?" asked Cid.

"They just arrived not long ago," explained Dewey.

Louie nodded. "Yeah! They arrived on this weird creature…wonder what it was."

Cid scratched the back of his head as he stared at the two unconscious teenagers. The only world he was aware that had recently disappeared was…Sora and Gabby's world, Destiny Islands. He wasn't sure if these two were from the same world as they were or from another. All he knew was that he had to get them somewhere safe. The First District wasn't always a safe-zone…it usually was, but it was best not to take risks.

Yuna and Tidus had also made it…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter! Date of Final Revamp: 10-27-11

I'm on a roll! :D This be KD's week! Yup, she's been doing great. I mean seriously, five chapters within a two week time span…yeah! Anyways, let's move on, shall we?

Another trait of originality you will notice here is…well, you may not be familiar to the current personalities our current Final Fantasy characters have or their appearance…I'll explain in the notes!

(1) This is the original Cid Highwind, who swears and smokes…surprisingly, the first person to actually drop an 'F-bomb', once again, was Sora. Yeah…Cid Highwind is a Dragoon, also known as Lancers or whatever. They use spears and such as weapons…yeah…

(2) Many of you who have played _Final Fantasy VII,_ or are at least familiar with the game, would recognize that woman as the future Mrs. Shera Highwind! Yup!

(3) Here's where you can see the reoccurrence of the name that is Cid…yeah, there is at least one in every Final Fantasy game or so…

(4) Not to be mistaken with the Dragoon Nobodies…fun fact, they are one of a few Nobodies named after the Final Fantasy job class system.

(5) Ribbons are used as defense accessories, so don't doubt the ribbons…they are really good defense accessories. Don't believe me? Look it up!

(6) This little Shadow…oh, Fred…Fred has been one of my most notable characters in my story since his addition in the second revamp. While first added for humor, now…the basis for Fred is this…

What if there were other Heartless who were like Sora and managed to keep a grip on heir humanity to an extent? There is much more within this basis, which shall be explained as it goes on and on…yeah…whatever.

(7) Relm Arrowny is a character from Final Fantasy VI and as her small mention said, she does have a way with making her art come to life…with Magic. She is also a Beast Master in class.

(8) Begonias in flower language, to which is relevant in this chapter, is "Beware" Azaleas are for "Take care" and the lemon grass? It means discretion…shut up! I got into this after getting bored and re-watching _Tiger & Bunny_…it's a rather interesting concept with the whole flower language.

(9) Considering what I've been doing unknowingly and up till now have realized it, this may just be turning into a running gag. XD Yeah, already a running gag!

(10) Always did wonder how that ladder got fixed, so here's my explanation!

(11) And here begins the start of finding all 99 er, make that 98 Dalmatian puppies…oh, and Cadpig is the name of the runt of the litter, according to what I know from reading The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. It is really a good read…

(12) This…this is _Final Fantasy VIII_'s Squall in his original appearance. He's close to his original age and wears his original outfit…well, his Dissidia outfit…what? I think it looks better on him! DX And don't worry! He's still the same KH Leon, only he's just younger and not as buff! Yeah…don't question meh! I just want to show Squall-er, Leon…younger than he is in the game. Yeah…

(13) My reason WHY Cid has a toothpick instead of a cigarette since in the game, it was due to the younger demographic who played the game, but here! Someone stole them! Anyone who has a clue to who it was, give your answers in a review IF you review! FYI, the hint is: Cid calls this person brat as a nickname in the game.

(14) Look at that drawn out F-bomb! 8D *gets shot* Oh, and yeah, of course Sora and Gabby would be freaking out about a Gunblade specialists! Squ-er, Leon is one of a few Gunblade specialists who have mastered the notoriously difficult weapon…next to Seifer.

(15) And that was Yuffie showing off her ninja skills! :D Yeah, I admire Yuffie for being…Yuffie! She's my favorite _Final Fantasy VII_ girl! :D

(16) Reference to _Final Fantasy VIII_ and yes, that was Seifer Almasy I was referring to. As true to the game, Seifer's unpredictable nature was what kept him from passing his SeeD exams and the applicants of this exam have to be within the ages of fifteen to nineteen. At twenty, they can no longer apply and they have to take a written exam, field exam, and they have to be accepted by the Headmaster. As Seifer is only a couple years off by turning twenty…you can pretty much figure out why it's bad for Seifer to fail.

(17) This is a scene from Final Mix, if you haven't noticed or anything. Yeah…it's also a _Birth by Sleep_ reference…some of you might get it.

(18) That…is Selphie Tilmitt's little catchphrase of some sorts from her Final Fantasy VIII incarnate…you'll be seeing that phrase every once in a while.

And of course, if you haven't noticed, Selphie, Yuna, and Tidus actually made it out…meaning they're involved! *gasp* Yes, there's where another part of my originality comes into play…

Anyways, NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is always welcomed and reviews just make me happy! :D

With that said, wait patiently for the next chapter! Till next time! KD out!


	6. All For One And One For All!

Donald and Goofy were still looking around for Leon. Their search led them to an alleyway in the Second District behind the hotel. It was eerily quiet and empty…and the only sources of lighting were from the small lamps on the balconies of the hotel rooms. They were at least bright enough to cast their light dimly on the opposite wall and on the street below, just barely illuminating the way for Donald and Goofy.

"Gawrsh," Goofy murmured as he glanced around cautiously. "There's nobody here. Sure is _spooky_!"

Donald continued to walk with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression that of annoyance. They still haven't found Leon…and what was Goofy scared about?

"Aw, phooey," Donald scoffed. "I'm not scared."

At that exact moment in a state that was most likely meant to be irony, a small finger belonging to a dainty hand, tapped Donald's shoulder in a gentle manner. This scared the living daylights out of Donald and had him scream loudly in alarm.

"WAAA-AAK!" yelled Donald.

Donald literally jump several feet into the air before latching himself onto Goofy, his eyes squeezed shut, his entire being trembling in fear and alarm. Goofy's eyes went wide as Donald's weight became a part of his own, and he was pulled slightly downward, almost falling backwards.

"Excuse me," asked a soft and gentle voice. "Did the King send you?"

Standing before the duo with a soft smile on her lips, was a fair-skinned young lady who seemed too young to be a woman, but too old to be a young girl due to a certain look she held in her kind, emerald green eyes. She had long, brown hair styled into a braid down her back with a large pink ribbon tied around it. Her bangs framed her face and curls hung on either side of her face.

The young woman wore a shin-length pink summer dress with a red lining and buttons going down the front, all of which were buttoned except for the last two. She wore a red bolero jacket with two pockets on the breast and leather belts on her sleeves. She had on a pair of brown boots with metal bracers on her wrists and a black string tied into a makeshift choker around her neck.

Despite her first appearance as a young woman with a kind and gentle disposition, she kept her ground as she held her quarterstaff firmly in position with her right hand behind her back. Said quarterstaff gleamed slightly as dim light reflected off its lustrous metal. (1)

A small moment of silence ensued, which was broken by Goofy as he answered with a small nod and salute.

"Yeah!" said Goofy. "Do you by any chance know someone named 'Leon'?"

The young woman smiled.

* * *

…

…

…

Darkness again…that was where Sora found himself.

"This again?" he said, shaking his head. "What is it this time?"

"_Well, for one thing…you might wanna wake up," _said Lady. _"But not now, there's something we have to tell you."_

Sora blinked and let out a sigh in relief. "Oh, it's you again…"

"_You seem rather happy to see me!"_ chirped Lady.

"_**Don't forget about me,"**_ said Blondie.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "And now my good mood's gone."

"_**Still mad about the whole dodging and fleeing?"**_ asked Blondie.

"_Isn't it obvious?"_ said Lady. _"I mean, you were a little hard on him."_

Sora blinked a few times as he remembered something. "You guys! You knew everything was going to happen to me, didn't you?"

"_**Maybe we did, maybe we didn't,"**_ said Blondie. _**"Does it really matter now?"**_

"_Besides…you're still alive!"_ Lady brought up.

"Yeah, but I lost my parents and just about everyone I knew on my island…" Sora countered.

Blondie sighed. _**"Let's move on…there's something you need to know."**_

Sora blinked and narrowed his eyes as he crossed his arms. "No more damn challenges! I've had enough!"

"_We know…so it's not that,"_ said Lady. _"Just relax and listen…"_

"_**It's about your partner,"**_ said Blondie.

Sora blinked and held up his index finger. "About that…Just who is it?"

"_So you haven't figured out who your partner is?"_ said Lady. _"Well, that's a shame…"_

"_**Yeah, didn't think you were this dense,"**_ said Blondie.

Sora scowled. "Shut up! You never did answer my question!"

Lady laughed. _"We could answer that…but we won't."_

"_**Indeed," **_said Blondie. _**"However, we could tell you this…"**_

"_Up till now, who has been with you?"_ asked Lady.

Sora blinked, his eyes widening seconds afterwards. "Oh, _hell_ no! Why, of all people, _why_ her?"

…

…

"…_you didn't have to be that harsh,"_ remarked Lady. _"I mean, she's not that bad… Just look how far you two have gotten!"_

Sora narrowed his eyes. "In the past twenty or so hours, we've done nothing but killed darkness-spawned creatures from hell, and I got knocked out by a Gunblade specialist…that's not much progress."

"_**Isn't she your friend?"**_ asked Blondie.

Sora nodded. "Well, yeah…but it's just…why?"

"_**Instead of asking, you should be the one who should know why,"**_ said Blondie. _**"But really, it'll take a while since you're so dense…"**_

Sora scowled. "Hey! So, what about you, Lady?"

Lady sighed. _"You're gonna have to find that out on your own, now…"_

"Are you two seriously going to leave me in that dark?" Sora asked, frowning. "And no pun intended…"

"_Look, kid…you're going to have to put up with this,"_ said Lady. _"Be glad you even have a partner to watch your back…"_

"_**Not everyone is as lucky as you…"**_ said Blondie.

Sora bit his lip as his chest began to hurt. He could hear the sadness in Blondie's voice as well as the one in Lady's voice. Something bad had to have happened to make them this sad… Sora also found himself feeling sad, but he didn't know why…

"_**Your partner…take care of her,"**_ said Blondie.

"_You're not the only one who is risking their life…" _Lady remarked.

Sora placed his hand on his chest and looked down. He didn't know what exactly to say.

"_**You'll regret it if you don't…"**_ said Blondie. _**"Well, we don't have much time…"**_

Sora blinked and looked up. "What do you mean?"

"_You have to wake up, silly!"_ Lady chirped.

Sora tilted his head to the side at Lady's sudden change in character. She was certainly…an interesting girl.

"_**Wake up…" **_said Blondie. _**"Unlike us, you can't stay asleep…"**_ (2)

Sora arched his brow. "What do you mean by that?"

Silence…

"Hey, I'm not done talking!" exclaimed Sora.

There was still no response… Sora sighed and shook his head.

"_All alone again…"_ he thought.

Sora closed his eyes and face-palmed. His partner…he couldn't believe it. Still, he might as well just listen. He had no clue why Lady and Blondie were so sad, but the way they asked him to protect his partner… Something told Sora that they were be even sadder if he didn't listen…

"_C'mon lazy bum,"_ said a very familiar voice.

Sora lifted his head and looked around. He recognized that voice!

"_Wake up,"_ said the voice.

Sora blinked a few times, his eyes feeling a bit heavy. Each time he closed his eyes, it was getting harder and harder to open them. Until finally, he couldn't open them.

…

…

* * *

Sora slowly roused from his sleep, his vision momentarily blurry. He groaned as he sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to ease the throbbing pain that didn't want to go away. He winced as he came across the same bump that Kairi had given him. Speaking of Kairi, when his vision cleared up, Sora nearly fainted at the mere sight of those violet-blues gazing directly at him.

It was Kairi…and she had made it! Sora inwardly let out a sigh in relief as he stared at the redhead. Though, she seemed a bit concerned…

"You okay?" she asked.

Sora smiled and nodded. "I guess…"

Kairi smiled as she placed one hand on her hip and shifted all her weight on one leg. She looked away out the nearby window, her smile fading then.

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade," she said calmly. "But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade."

Regardless of what Kairi had said made no sense and the fact that the name "Keyblade" was brought up again…just what exactly is a Keyblade? Sora was relieved to see that Kairi was alive and fine.

"It's good you're okay, Kairi," he said.

Kairi arched her brow at Sora. "Kairi? Who're you talking about?"

Sora blinked as Kairi placed her hands on her hips. What was she talking about? She was Kairi…wasn't she?

"I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi!" she said.

"Huh?" Sora made a face at the supposed "Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi", as Kairi was now calling herself…was she feeling okay? Sora yelped and clutched his head as it began to throb with a pain that was nearly unbearable.

Sora kept his eyes closed until the pain started to fade away. Slowly, he reopened his eyes and blinked when he saw that Kairi wasn't there. Instead, in Kairi's place, was a young girl with black hair, violet colored eyes, and a nearly identical countenance to Kairi. (3) The girl, Yuffie, smiled helplessly at Sora as she talked to the man standing a few feet away from her by the door.

"I think you might've overdone it, Squall," she said.

A man stepped out from the shadows of the room. Sora narrowed his eyes at the man… he was the same Gunblade specialist Sora had fought earlier. But the man looked much calmer now than he had then, except for the slight annoyance that tainted his face as he looked at Yuffie.

"That's Leon," he corrected her sternly.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Sora's attention drifted slightly, as his eyes caught sight of a familiar object propped up against the wall near Leon. "The Keyblade…"

Ever since he gained that key-like sword, Sora's been hearing that term pop up from time to time…just what is a Keyblade? Was it really that sword? Sora didn't know…his head still hurt…

"Yeah," Yuffie said as she moved towards Leon holding her index finger in the air. "We had to get it _away _from you to shake off those creatures."

Sora arched his brow and made a face. "For what?"

Yuffie stopped and spun around to face Sora once she was lined up with Leon, putting her hands on her hips. "Turns out, _that's_ how they were tracking you…."

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them," Leon said as a matter-of-factly. "But it won't work for long. Still hard to believe that you were chosen…I'm not sure about this kid over there."

Sora scowled at Leon, but blinked as he remembered something…he wasn't alone. "Which kid?"

Yuffie blinked and directed Sora to the corner of the room. Sora turned and sighed when he saw Gabby sitting in the corner of the room. She was unconscious, but she was fine…Sora turned and glared at Leon.

"And before you make any assumptions, I didn't knock her out," said Leon. "Yuffie did…though, I wonder, why did you knock her out?"

Yuffie rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I…I don't know."

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't kick your ass for this…" Sora said darkly.

Leon looked at Sora and held out his arm, his Gunblade appearing in hand. "This."

Sora gulped and looked down. "I'll be good."

Leon nodded his head firmly as his Gunblade flashed out of his hand. "Exactly."

"Don't worry about ol' Squally, here," Yuffie said as she patted Leon on the shoulder.

Leon narrowed his eyes at Yuffie. "That's Leon…"

Yuffie ignored Leon as she continued on. "He's just being a S.U.T.A."

Sora blinked. "What's a S.U.T.A.?"

Yuffie laughed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You really want to know?"

Leon placed his hand on Yuffie's exposed shoulder (she really needed a better outfit…).

"Actually, I do," said Leon. "Tell me or I'll tell Aerith who really destroyed her flowers."

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Yuffie's face as she backed away slowly from Leon. "Erm, it means…ehehe! Oh, to hell with it! It means stick up the ass!"

…

…

…

"Please don't tell Aerith!" Yuffie pleaded. "It was an accident, I swear!"

Sora snorted and burst into laughter as he realized how much the acronym fitted Leon. Leon just stared blankly at Yuffie, obviously not amused.

A few moments later,

Sora sighed as he wiped away the tears in his eyes. He had laughed so hard, he cried, much to Leon's annoyance.

"I still can't believe you, of all people, were chosen," said Leon.

"If I wasn't so damn confused, I'd kick your ass," said Sora.

Leon ignored Sora as he bent over and took the Keyblade into his grip before he then swung it once horizontally in the air. Immediately, a bright light engulfed the Keyblade and the Keyblade disappeared right out of Leon's hand, reappearing the next second into Sora's hand.

Sora gave a small smile as he held up his Keyblade to look it over. Leon walked over to Sora and sighed as he took off his jacket from Yuffie's shoulders. He spoke to Sora just as he placed on his jacket.

"Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers," said Leon.

Sora placed his Keyblade down in his lap and looked up at Leon. He was both angry and confused. Just what the hell was going on?

"Why don't you start making sense!" snapped Sora. "What's going on here?"

Leon turned to Yuffie. "Yuffie, you mind waking the other kid up? We have a lot of explaining to do."

Yuffie nodded and walked over to the corner of the room to wake up Gabby.

"If I were you, I'd watch out for her hook punch," Sora quickly said. "Or any punch for the matter…"

Yuffie looked at Sora and then looked at Gabby. "Okay…rather than risk it, I know an easier way!"

Yuffie reached into her pocket and pulled out a small ball with a small wick sticking out of it. Leon arched his brow at Yuffie as she placed her index and thumb next to the wick.

"Where…did you get that?" asked Leon.

Yuffie grinned as she looked at Leon. "I got them from Huey, Dewey, and Louie! These are like the best distractions! Fire!"

SNAP!

Yuffie snapped her fingers, sparking a small flame from her snap and igniting the wick sticking out. The wick began to burn quickly and just before it reached the end of its length, Yuffie threw it up into the air. She then backed away, plugging her fingers into her ear as she watched the ball explode.

BAM! CRACK! WHISTLE!

Sora and Leon flinched at the loud noise that came off from the exploding ball. Yuffie's eyes sparkled as a burst of colorful sparks popped in the air a few times, creating what seemed to be a small firework show. It was definitely one heck of a distraction…and it was loud enough to wake up Gabby.

It was also loud enough to be heard next door, where the young woman and her guests, Donald and Goofy, were currently residing in. The noise came out all so suddenly… The young woman kept her calm composure, jolting only slightly at the loud noise. Donald was clinging onto Goofy again, having been scared out of his wits. Goofy was just slightly shaken up, but otherwise well composed, though not much could be said about Jiminy, whom was currently shaking within Goofy's hat.

The young woman sighed and shook her head as she walked over to a red door on the left side of the room. She stopped in front of the door and began to knock on it.

"Keep it down, you two!" she called out. "I'm in the middle of something important!"

A voice coming from the other side of the door responded to the young woman. "It's Yuffie, she set off a firework!"

"Well, don't let her set another one off!" said the young woman.

"I'll keep that in mind," replied the voice.

A minute had passed before the noise had finally died down. There was nothing but silence now filling the room. The young woman sighed and turned, making her way over to the four-poster bed in the hotel room. The hotel room had an oriental-styled décor and was mainly red and gold in coloration. It was a rather extravagant-looking compared to the room next to it.

The young woman sat herself down at the edge of the bed, just in front of Donald and Goofy. A smile crossed her lips as she realized she hadn't introduced herself. She placed her hand on her chest.

"My name is Aerith Gainsborough," said the young woman. "You two must be Donald and Goofy…"

Donald and Goofy nodded in response.

"Okay," said Aerith. "With introductions out of the way, now…let's move on, shall we?"

Donald and Goofy nodded again in response.

"You may already know that there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?" she asked.

Donald nodded and replied with a firm, "Yeah."

Goofy placed his hands over his mouth as he said, "But they're supposed to be a secret."

Aerith nodded as she began to explain.

"They've been secret because they've never been connected," she explained, her smile ceased as her expression turned somber. "Until now. When the Heartless came, _everything_ changed."

* * *

Gabby was sitting down by Sora's side on the bed. She had managed to calm down from her rather rude awakening through means of using a firecracker. She and Sora looked perplexed at Leon and Yuffie. Like Aerith was currently doing in the next room, Leon and Yuffie were also explaining to their guests.

"The Heartless?" questioned Sora.

Yuffie seated herself down in between Sora and Gabby on the edge of the bed, having been tired of standing about. She diverted her eyes.

"The ones who attacked you," she said. "You remember?"

Sora gave Yuffie a firm nod. Of _course_ he remembered. They'd only attacked him in a dream, on his own island, and chased him all over this unusual new town. Those things had almost _killed _him at one point…

"_Wait, that was the Tonberry…" _thought Sora.

Still, it was hard to forget things like that.

"So…Fred is a Heartless?" asked Gabby.

Yuffie arched her brow at Gabby. "Who's Fred?"

Sora groaned as he face-palmed. "This girl, right here…I don't know exactly what she was thinking, but she named one of those things Fred…"

Gabby crossed her arms as she looked sternly at Sora. "Hey! Fred's cool, okay?"

"He slashed my face!" countered Sora.

Gabby turned away from Sora. "Well, he just doesn't like you…"

"What exactly went on?" asked Leon.

Gabby and Sora turned to the older teen.

One small explanation later,

"That's strange," said Yuffie.

Leon nodded. "Heartless act on instinct alone…your friend should be dead by now for doing something like that."

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Well, she isn't…she's still alive and she's right here."

"So what exactly are Heartless?" asked Gabby.

"They're those without hearts," Leon said bluntly.

Gabby blinked and narrowed her eyes at Leon. "No need to be such a smartass…"

As if she couldn't have figured that out for herself. It was just a _little _bit obvious, considering they were called the "Heartless". Yuffie seemed to take Leon's comment the same way as it being very obvious.

"Ah, dur," said Yuffie. "Way to state the obvious, Sherlock."

"Yuffie, there are more things at matter that are important," said Leon. "Insulting me isn't one of them."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Riiight…Anyways…where was I? Oh…the darkness in people's hearts—that's what attracts the Heartless."

Leon nodded. "And there is darkness within every heart…"

Sora blinked and placed his hand on his chest. "Every…heart?"

Gabby frowned and did the same as Sora. She couldn't believe that within her own heart, there had to be darkness…maybe that's why the Heartless kept attacking her and Sora, because of their hearts…

Yuffie turned to look at Sora and Gabby. She looked at them with a somewhat hopeful expression on her face as she smiled.

"Hey," she said, almost cheerfully. "Have you heard of someone named Ansem?"

Sora arched his brow and shook his head. He had no clue about who "Ansem" was…

Gabby, on the other hand, found something familiar about the name. Suddenly, she yelped and clutched her head as it began to throb. Memories began to flood her head, just like back on what was left of the islands before she and Sora had woken up in Traverse Town.

"_Am I…remembering?" _she thought as she clenched her teeth.

This time, it hurt even more than the first time…

"_The most precious of all memories are the ones that hurt most to remember…" _that was what the voice had told her…she had to endure it, otherwise…she wouldn't remember. Gabby closed her eyes and concentrated. She could almost make out a face…

Gabby's eyes snapped open as the memory flashed, giving her yet another mental image. This time, it was of man with long, blond hair and a short mustache with a goatee. The man's bright orange eyes stood out to Gabby. They looked intimidating at first, but to Gabby…she could see the warm twinkle the man's eyes held.

"_Who…is this?"_ she thought.

"Are you okay?" asked Sora.

Gabby blinked and looked at Sora. "Uh…yeah, I'm okay…just a small headache—it'll go away!"

Gabby smiled at Sora, deciding to keep her memory recovery a secret. She didn't want to say anything about it just yet…she wanted to know more first.

"So…" said Sora. "Who is Ansem?"

* * *

"Ansem?" Goofy repeated as he placed his hand under his chin.

Aerith nodded. "He was studying the Heartless. He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report."

Goofy held out his hands as he asked, "Gawrsh, uh, can we see it?"

Aerith closed her eyes and shook her head as she frowned. "Its pages are scattered everywhere."

Donald was impatiently tapping his foot when the word 'scattered' caught his ear. "Scattered?"

Aerith nodded, adding, "To many worlds."

A light clicked on in Goofy's head as he brought his fist down into his opened palm.

"Oh, then maybe the king went to find 'em," said Goofy.

Both Donald and Aerith nodded.

"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly," Aerith said, smiling afterwards.

Goofy turned to the door as he exclaimed, "We gotta find him quick!"

Donald looked at Goofy and held up his finger as he exclaimed, "Wait!"

Donald blinked as he noticed that a black screen was obscuring his view as well as keeping him from being properly visible from the eyes down in this cutscene. Finding it a bit of an annoyance since his short stature was the cause of this viewpoint as well as the location of the black screen, Donald used his hands to pull down the black screen to fix that problem. This action ultimately broke the fourth wall between character and reader (viewer), but that was nothing much of importance, seeing as there were other things at matter. (4)

"First we need that 'key'!" said Donald.

Goofy blinked a few times in confusion before remembering what Donald was talking about. Donald stared at Goofy, resisting the urge to smack his friend upside the head. He was this close to snapping and it didn't help that it was in Goofy's nature for him to be dense at certain times.

Luckily, Aerith managed to calm Donald down with her soothing voice. Aerith had that effect on just about anyone ready to snap…

"That's right," she said calmly. "The Keyblade…"

* * *

Sora held out his key-like sword in front of himself. Sure enough, he finally figured out what exactly a Keyblade was…it was his sword. So that's what the voices were trying to tell him…

"So…_this_ is the key…" Sora said, slightly awed as he looked over his weapon.

Yuffie grinned and held up her index finger as she replied, "Exactly!"

Leon retreated back to his previous standing location that was leaning back against the wall like the loner he was, as Yuffie would put it.

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," Leon said as he crossed his arms. "That's why they'll keep coming after you… no matter what."

Whatever positive insight and admiration Sora had of the Keyblade, diminished as Leon's comment just _screwed_ over what positivity Sora had.

"Dammit!" snapped Sora. "Now I'm never going to get away from those Tonberry-killing bastards!"

Yuffie arched her brow. "Tonberry?"

Leon opened one eye to look at Yuffie as he replied, "Dinglberries or Pugs." (5)

A light clicked in Yuffie's head as her mouth formed an 'O'. "Oh, the creepy-adorable-looking, knife-wielders who almost killed me and you a few years back…"

Sora stared wide-eyed at Leon and Yuffie. Sora rarely knew people who survived a near-death experience with a Tonberry aside from his own father. And for people as young as them…and by young, he referred to people under the age of eighteen…

"Well, that makes three of you!" said Gabby.

Yuffie and Leon looked questioningly at Gabby.

"Sora almost got killed by a Tonberry in the past twenty hours or so," explained Gabby.

It hasn't been even a day yet, according to what Cid had told her and Sora…in a few hours or so, it would mark twenty-four hours since Sora and Gabby had gotten into this mess.

"What about you?" asked Yuffie.

Gabby sighed as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. "I almost got killed by a Gloom Widow…"

"That your fiancé saved you from," added Sora.

Gabby glared at Sora. "I told you not to bring that up!"

"Fiancé?" exclaimed Yuffie. "Is this what this ring I took is?"

Gabby blinked as she saw Yuffie hold up a silver ring. Blinking, Gabby held up her left hand and gasped as she saw that her ring was missing. Immediately, she glared at Yuffie as she held out her hand.

"My ring…give it back now, or else," Gabby demanded.

Yuffie was taken aback with Gabby's request, but nonetheless, complied. Nodding firmly, Gabby placed her ring back on her finger. Yuffie was still stunned with the fact that the girl she had knocked out was engaged…

Leon was shocked. "Aren't you a little too young to be engaged?"

One small explanation later,

"So she's set until she graduates…" said Leon.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, and that's about all I can tell you…Gabby's still not too comfortable with her engagement being talked about."

Hesitantly, Sora looked at Gabby, sighing in relief when he saw the look of approval on her face.

"Thank you," said Gabby.

Yuffie frowned as she actually wanted to hear more about it. It seemed like an interesting subject, but she decided to drop it. For now, she and Leon still had an explanation to give out.

"Okay, let's get back on subject about the Keyblade," she said.

Sora blinked and frowned as he held up his Keyblade. "About this Keyblade…I didn't ask for it."

"The Keyblade chooses its master," Yuffie explained as she kicked her foot into the air. "And it chose _you_!"

Yuffie smiled at Sora, hoping to cheer him up.

"It applies to all Keyblades in general…" said Leon. "Or so we've been told, but I digress… So tough luck."

Yuffie's attempt at trying to cheer the Keyblade wielder went to waste as Leon had brought Sora down. Not long after saying that, Leon deftly caught a small shuriken between his index and middle finger, stopping the throwing star just a few inches away from his face in midair. It was a feat that he had done so effortlessly and stoically…that it pissed off Yuffie as clenched her teeth and held up her hand, which was armed and poised to throw another shuriken. (6)

"Squall!" hissed Yuffie. "Not helping!"

Leon didn't bother correcting Yuffie as he threw the shuriken in his fingers back at the violet-eyed girl. Yuffie caught it with the same dexterity and skill Leon had, only unlike him, she showed much more expression. She stared at him sternly for a few seconds before sighing and shaking her head.

"_It can't be helped…"_ Yuffie thought as she turned to Sora. "Look on the bright side!"

Sora narrowed his eyes at Yuffie. "What exactly is the bright side?"

Yuffie was about to answer, but stopped as she realized…she had no clue. "Uh…I got nothing…"

Leon face-palmed. "Okay, subject change…"

"What about me?" asked Gabby. "What exactly am I here for?"

"Yuffie knocked you out for whatever apparent reason she had, which I have yet to discover," Leon began. "And there's something peculiar about you."

Gabby blinked and tilted her head to the side. "What is it?"

Leon removed his hand from his face. "We've been only told to expect one Keyblade wielder, not two."

"Wait, there's another?" exclaimed Yuffie. "No way!"

Sora blinked. _"They…don't know?"_

Then that made Sora the only one who was aware of it…until now. Somehow, he was meant to have gone through this alone, otherwise Leon and Yuffie wouldn't have been this surprised. He decided to keep quiet about this…

"Gabby, show them," said Sora.

Gabby nodded and held out her right arm as a bright light flashed in her right hand. Yuffie stared in awe at the Keyblade in Gabby's hand. Leon just stared, almost as if he was thinking.

"The Keyblade…" said Leon. "Why are there two?"

Yuffie held up her index finger. "Maybe it decided it wanted a partner!"

Sora's breath hitched as he recalled what Blondie and Lady had told him about while he was asleep. A partner…Gabby had been his assigned partner, for reasons he didn't know… (7)

"_That's right…"_ thought Sora. _"We're in this together…"_

"It certainly sounds unlikely, but there's really nothing we can do about it," said Leon. "Maybe the Keyblade did want a partner…maybe, maybe not. For whatever reason, let's just be glad…"

Sora arched his brow. "Why?"

"Not much can be done with one person alone," explained Leon. "As you could see during our fight, I wasn't as much of an effective fighter."

Yuffie nodded as she held up her index finger. "Squall can't do crap without me helping him out with healing!"

"That's Leon," corrected Leon.

Gabby blinked. "Aren't you a Ninja?"

Yuffie grinned. "I have a few tricks up my sleeves…I have a healing move that I call Clear Tranquil…"

"And thank you for healing me," said Leon.

Sora sighed and looked down as he began to wonder about all the things that had happened to him. Everything that had happened to him…why did it happen? Why was he chosen?

"How did all this happen?" Sora asked himself. "I just remember being in my room, asleep before this whole storm started out—hold on one damn minute!"

Sora suddenly stood up from the bed, his eyes widening as he suddenly recalled the horrors he's experienced before waking up in Traverse Town. He has been told his home was gone…but what really happened to it?

"What really happened to our home?" Sora asked frantically, his eyes diverting to Gabby for answers of some sort…any! "Our island? Riku!"

"Kairi…" Gabby said, her voice nearly cracking as she said her sister's name. "And our friends…"

"My parents…" Sora said, frowning.

"You know what?" said Leon.

Sora directed his gaze on Leon, waiting to hear what the Gunblade wielder had to say. Leon turned his head and blinked when he found himself staring right into Sora's eyes. Blue eyes met with blue eyes as the two stared at each other fully in the face. It was strange…Leon's eyes began to show a trace of concern…something that he hadn't done much in years after the pain and remorse of his past tragedies caused his eyes to contain the glazed expression it usually holds today up to this point.

Leon looked down, wanting to tear his gaze away from Sora. He closed his eyes in an attempt to forget about the stare those eyes gave him. Even so, a pain in his chest began to ache as memories of his past began to pop up…the memories that made him give up the name, "Squall". He had yet to adjust to the many reactions he heard from the newcomers that arrived to Traverse Town in situations nearly similar to that of Sora and Gabby.

"You know what?" said Leon. "I really don't know."

And as much as it sounded harsh of him to say this, Leon really didn't know how else to put it. Only Yuffie could sense the hurt tone in her partner's voice.

"_He really does care…"_ she thought.

Sora sighed and looked down. "Well, then…what do we do now?"

"Okay, screw this!" exclaimed Gabby. "I'm leaving this place! I'm tired of moping around and doing nothing!"

Gabby jumped out of bed and stood up, looking around the room for any place to leave. Leon was blocking door number one, so that just left the door leading out to the balcony…well, better than nothing! Gabby walked over to the door and just as she was about to grab the doorknob when Leon called out to her.

"It's dangerous out there," said Leon. "Don't wander off."

Gabby just stared at him, not bothering to make an effort at giving a smart aleck remark. Sora, on the other hand, had just about enough of Leon's emotionless disposition. He stood up from bed and walked over to Gabby, pushing her aside to open the door. His hand turned the doorknob and much to his annoyance, it was locked. Rather than just give up there, Sora continued to try and open the door, hoping that it was just stuck. After a full minute of rattling the doorknob, Sora took out his Keyblade and began whacking the ever-loving crap out of the door.

"O—pen—up!" he yelled which each strike. "Stupid…freaking…door! Let me out, dammit!"

Gabby just stared at Sora, amused with the reaction her partner made. Yuffie just stared for a few seconds before she flopped back onto the bed to stretch out her arms. She let out a somewhat tired groan as she turned onto her stomach. Yuffie wanted nothing more than to get the kids out of her and Squall's room. She was tired, no thanks to the loner waking her up in the ungodly hour of five in the morning…stupid training and recon…

Zzzz….

Leon face-palmed, having just watched his partner fall asleep on the bed…added to what Sora was doing to the door, this whole situation just about gave him a migraine!

"Just can't sit still, can you?" Leon asked with a deadpanned expression. "Yuffie, wake up…"

Yuffie's eyes immediately snapped opened as the violet-eyed ninja rolled off the bed and onto the ground.

THUD!

"I wasn't asleep, I swear!" Yuffie exclaimed, having recovered from her fall rather quickly.

Leon just shook his head and turned to Sora and Gabby. Gabby had already stopped Sora from exhausting himself any more by stopping him from whacking the door with his Keyblade.

Yuffie yawned as she sat herself back down on the edge of the bed. She turned to the two younger teens and smiled at them.

"Hey, think of this as an _adventure_!" she said, trying to make the two feel better.

"_An adventure?"_ thought Sora. _"Pfft, some adventure this is, we can't even make it out this damn door."_

Still, he and Gabby were far away from home…and they had to fight off creatures called Heartless… It might as well be an adventure…

"_Just like the kind…Riku always wanted to go on,"_ Sora thought, his spirits dropping.

Gabby frowned as she could see her friend's sadness. They had to find Riku, Kairi, and everyone else before anything else…especially Sora's parents.

Deciding that he wouldn't be let out without Leon's consent, Sora dragged himself back to the bed and seated himself next to Yuffie. She let out a small, nervous chuckle as she tried to think of something else that might cheer him up.

"Say, we kinda got off on a bad start," said Yuffie. "Let's start over…my name's Yuffie Kisaragi and this guy over here is my partner, Squall Leonhart!"

"That's Leon," corrected Leon.

"Whatever!" Yuffie said, crossing her arms.

Sora nodded. "Well, my name's Sora."

"And I'm Gabby!" said Gabby.

…

…

…

Leon sighed. It had been long enough…

"Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you two," he said.

Sora and Gabby turned to Leon. "Hmm?"

"You'd best prepare yourselves," said Leon.

Sora arched his brow at Leon. "Prepare ourselves?"

"To fight for your life," Leon said, staring directly at Sora.

Sora felt a chill go up his spine, but he shook it off as he knew that he was going to be fighting for his life one of these days. That was the very reason he still had to go to school. He had been training since kindergarten…

"Gabby," said Sora.

Gabby looked at Sora. "Yes?"

"We've been through a lot since kindergarten…" said Sora. "Today, we make a difference…let's do this for everyone."

Gabby nodded.

"Are you ready?" asked Leon.

Sora nodded and held up his fist. "We're more than ready!"

"Let's do it!" exclaimed Gabby.

A small smile crossed Leon's lips as he turned to Yuffie.

"_These kids got guts…gotta hand it to them,"_ thought Leon. "All right…Yuffie, let's go join Aerith. I'm sure she's done explaining to the other visitors."

Before Sora or Gabby could even ask what Leon meant by "other visitors", Yuffie suddenly jumped as she shrieked, taking a few wild steps back.

"Squall!" she shrieked, pointing at something in front of her. "The Heartless!"

A soldier-like creature immediately appeared right in front of Yuffie. This current situation, paired up with the scared tone Yuffie's voice held when she called Leon by "Squall" caused something within the Gunblade wielder to snap. A sense of concerned crossed Leon's expression as he stepped forward, his Gunblade appearing in hand.

"Yuffie, go!" Leon shouted.

Yuffie bit her lip and nodded as she turned and ran away from the soldier-like Heartless. She ran towards the door and pushed it open so fast, that she slammed whatever behind it, flat. Unfortunately for Donald, he just happened to be there at the wrong time and place. Yuffie didn't notice at all as she was too busy trying to make an escape into the hallway. She didn't see Aerith's concerned expression or Goofy's questioning look as he tried to figure out who the ninja was.

"Yuffie?" exclaimed Aerith.

Another Heartless soldier appeared right in front of Aerith and Goofy. Goofy was about ready to take out his shield when Aerith beat him to the punch, using her quarterstaff to slam the Heartless into oblivion. Afterwards, Aerith gave Goofy a quick goodbye and left the room to follow after Yuffie. Despite the ninja's skill and expertise, Yuffie still had a bad endurance due to her quick movements and bouts of energy. For that reason, Aerith was there to take care of her.

* * *

Leon took a practice swing in the air with his Gunblade. His eyes diverted into Sora as he quickly positioned himself to strike.

"Sora, Gabby, let's go!" Leon said, swinging his Gunblade at the armored Heartless with all his might.

Leon's brute force sent the Heartless crashing through the window and slamming into one of the outside walls in the alleyway. Sora and Gabby stared at the broken window in awe.

"Wow," they both said. "That is so cool!"

"Could you guys quit thinking of how cool I am and do something?" Leon snapped as he ran out the broken window and hopped over the ledge of the balcony.

Leon landed on the ground feet-first in the alleyway. Afterwards, he looked up at Sora and Gabby, waiting for the two to jump down. Sora looked nervously at the edge of the balcony as he wondered whether or not he should take the stairs. It was a three-story drop…

Sora sighed and climbed onto the edge of the balcony and began to position himself to jump when—

"Get your ass, moving!" Gabby exclaimed as she promptly pushed Sora off the edge.

Sora fell in a not so graceful manner and landed painfully onto the ground. Sora almost fell on top of Leon, but the Gunblade wielder sidestepped away just in time, his expression still stoic as ever.

THUD!

Sora groaned as he lifted his head off the ground. He had just fallen face-first on top of cold, hard concrete…all thanks to Gabby. Sora shook his head and looked up at Gabby with a stern expression.

"You—!" exclaimed Sora. "Why I oughta!"

WHOOSH!

Sora blinked and looked to the side as he saw what was left of the Heartless that was trying to sneak up on him. Leon perched his Gunblade over his shoulder and just stared at Sora, expecting a thank you of some sort or anything, just so long as the spiky-haired teen got up.

"Will you two stop messing around?" asked Leon. "We have bigger things to worry about."

Sora was just about to get up when Gabby landed on his back, forcing the spiky-haired boy back onto the ground. Gabby blinked a few times and got off Sora to dust herself off. She didn't bother looking at Sora until she heard him groan.

Turning around, Gabby stuttered as she saw Sora in his current disheveled state…the very same state that Gabby caused him to appear in.

"Sorry!" exclaimed Gabby.

"Next time…land on Leon, not me!" Sora exclaimed as he got off the ground.

"Assuming there is a next time!" Gabby interjected.

"Whatever!" snapped Sora. "Let's get a move on!"

* * *

Goofy stared at the door as it slowly closed shut. Behind it, revealed what had happened to Donald when the door suddenly opened and slammed him into the wall (courtesy of Yuffie, who was following Leon's directions). Donald stared into space, his expression frozen into the very same look of shock he had when Yuffie suddenly slammed open the door.

* * *

…

…

…

Selphie bit her lip as she stared at the monitor. She still had yet to crack the password…

"Just what is it?" she thought. "Hmm…maybe if I…that's it! I mean, it's so simple!"

Selphie stared at the monitor as she typed in the password, smiling when she saw "Password accepted" in green letters.

"Booyaka!" she exclaimed. "Though, I wonder what or who Shera is…"

Shera was the password, as she found out after many tries. The monitors began to show surveillance videos coming from what seemed to be many parts of a town. Selphie stared at the monitors in awe.

"Whoa…so cool!" exclaimed Selphie. "Huh…?"

Selphie blinked as she spotted two very familiar people she knew. It was Sora and Gabby…the mere sight of these two caused Selphie to stand up from her seat.

"They made it!" she exclaimed, letting out a mushroom sigh in relief afterwards. "I wasn't the only one…I wasn't…the only one…"

…

…

…

* * *

Cid stared at the duck trio standing in front of him. "Okay, you three…I'm leaving you in charge of the refugees. I gotta go do something…the Heartless are acting up again."  
Huey frowned. "More than usual?"

Cid nodded. "Yeah, that's why I gotta get to the Gizmo Shop's control room and activate the town's defense mechanism."

"But you barely know how to work that since we set up the defense mechanism in the first place!" said Dewey. "Why don't you let us do it?"

"Because I'm responsible for you guys," Cid said as a matter-of-factly. "Now be good and just watch over them…think you can do that?"

Louie stood up straight as he saluted Cid. "Aye aye, Mr. Highwind!"

Cid nodded and grabbed his spear before running out the door.

* * *

…

…

…

"Don't bother with the small fry," Leon told Sora as he quickly began to dispose of the Heartless that got in his way. "Find the leader!"

Sora nodded firmly, taking a few slashes at the nearest Heartless to make room for himself. These things were definitely tougher than the ones Sora had been fighting earlier. These ones were taller; they were just about his height. They appeared to be the same solider-like Heartless he and Gabby had first encountered after that man lost his heart…

Sora shuddered. _"God, that memory's scarred into my mind…"_

He wouldn't be surprised if he got nightmares from that either…and so adds another to his list of fears, right next to the Tonberry.

Leon looked over his shoulder at Sora and Gabby. "Let's go!"

With that, Leon went his separate ways, leaving Sora and Gabby alone with a swarm of Heartless. Sora clenched his teeth as he gripped his Keyblade.

"That jerk…" said Sora.

"Rather than just stand around, let's do something!" said Gabby. "C'mon!"

With that said, Sora and Gabby fought their way down an alleyway and burst through the door on the end, their weapons flashing, slicing through countless Heartless. Sora led the way through Second District, his attention divided between finding some sort of leader and fighting the Heartless. As Sora hacked through a thick group of Shadows, he glanced around Second District and frowned.

"No leader here," he called to Gabby, taking a swing at another Heartless.

"If I were a Leader, where would I be?" asked Gabby.

Sora blinked and stopped running. "Hmm…I got it! Let's try the Third District."

"We kinda didn't bother searching that place, so we might as well…ehehe," Gabby said as she rubbed the back of her head. "Okay, let's go!"

Sora nodded. "Follow me!"

Sora led the way as he and Gabby ran through the lower level of the Second District. They didn't bother with the Heartless that got in their way, they just dodged. They were looking for the leader…Leon said not to bother with the small fry. Sora was the first to burst through the doors, Gabby following right after him.

The two came to a stop as they both noticed something. It was calm…and eerily quiet…

"I don't like this," said Gabby.

"Neither do I, but we gotta look around," said Sora. "C'mon."

Gabby frowned and reluctantly followed after Sora as he began to walk down the steps. The Third District was small…not many things were around, save for what seemed to be an abandoned house, an elegant fountain, and some electrical mechanics to the side. Aside from that…nothing much except for peace and quiet…

"I still don't like this…" said Gabby. "It's like something's bound to pop up…"

Sora sighed. "Don't jinx us…"

* * *

Meanwhile,

In an effort to grasp the confusion of the whole situation, somehow Donald and Goofy found themselves on top of a balcony in the Third District, cornered by Heartless. How this happened…well…

* * *

~flashback~

"_Gawrsh, Donald," said Goofy. "I think we should go through this door."_

_Goofy jabbed his thumb at a blue and white door that had a sign over it, reading: Third District. Donald, being one to always take the lead, crossed his arms and huffed._

"_Aw, phooey!" snorted Donald. "Follow me! I know where we should go!"_

_With that, Donald grabbed onto the back of Goofy's shirt and began to pull him towards him as they both made their way towards the Gizmo Shop. After a full fifteen minutes, the two were now on top of the Gizmo Shop roof, surrounded by Heartless. Donald and Goofy looked at each other before going their separate ways to attack the Heartless._

_It wasn't much use as the more Heartless they defeated, the more that appeared in place of the fallen darkness spawned creatures. So that only left one thing for the two to do…_

"_RUN!" exclaimed Donald._

_Goofy took no time to hesitate and followed after his friend. The Court Magician high-tailed it out the whole way onto the roofs of many buildings he and Goofy landed on after jumping off the Gizmo Shop roof. During this, the two found a door leading elsewhere and rather than stay with the Heartless, the two barged right and that's how they found themselves cornered and screwed._

~end of flashback~

* * *

All in all, it was Donald's fault, despite his denial and accusations aimed at Goofy as Donald exclaimed, "This is your fault, you big palooka!"

Goofy just scratched the back of his head lightly as he used his free hand to defend himself with his shield. (8)

"Gawrsh," said Goofy. "These Heartless guys are sure strong…"

Donald scowled and tapped his foot angrily as he took out his Mage's staff. He swung his staff once at the Heartless and diverted his eyes on Goofy afterwards.

"Let's go get 'em, Goofy!" exclaimed Donald.

And within a few seconds after Donald had exclaimed so bravely, the Heartless charged and knocked the duo into the air with tremendous force. Donald and Goofy screamed at the top of their lungs as they dived down towards the ground.

"Waaak!" exclaimed Donald.

"Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" yelled Goofy.

Of course, the duo's yells were very audible as Sora and Gabby began to look left to right for the source. After a second, the two turned and looked up, their eyes widening as they saw the source of the yelling. It was a duck and a dog…and they were heading straight towards them!

Sora and Gabby tried to move out of the way, their eyes glued onto the two figures! Despite their attempt, it was all in vain as within moments, the two figures had fallen on top of both Sora and Gabby.

The force at which they had landed on the two teens was enough to send the four of them toppling onto the ground, the wind knocked out of their lungs. With a lack of oxygen, this was enough to send the four of them into a daze. Yellow stars encircled the area above Donald and Goofy's head while question marks appeared over Sora and Gabby's head, a common sign of confusion.

Sora stared bleary eyed at the Keyblade he held out in his right hand, splayed across the ground before him. He diverted his eyes on Gabby, his confusion slowly depleting as he could clearly see that Gabby's Keyblade was not with her, having disappeared seconds after landing onto the ground.

Goofy's pupils rolled around aimlessly in opposite directions in his eyes as he groaned a bit in pain. Donald kept his eyes closed as he shook his head, trying to regain his senses. He opened his eyes midway before closing them and opening them, blinking a few times afterwards. Goofy blinked a few times as his eyes diverted to the side, his gaze aimed at Donald.

Donald's eyes were fixated on something that seemed to have been right in front of him. Curiosity piquing Goofy's interest caused the Captain of the Royal Knights to divert his attention on what Donald was looking at. The second Goofy's eyes landed on that key-like sword, he and Donald immediately snapped out of their daze and exclaimed, "The key!"

Sora blinked a few times and finally snapped out of his confusion as the ground began to rumble and shake violently.

"Huh?" said Sora.

Gabby snapped out of her confusions moments after Sora. "What's going on?"

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy looked around the area, shocked and confused as they saw a series of pillars rising from the ground, blocking any means of escape from the Third District, save for the large, arched doorway leading to the First District. The second the ground stopped shaking, the four jumped to their feet and immediately ran towards the doorway.

The door was locked… Sora narrowed his eyes at it, taking the Keyblade and swinging it straight into the door. Nothing. He stomped one foot on the ground, cursing his bad luck.

"Dammit, we're trapped!" exclaimed Sora.

Right then, a large group of the soldier-like Heartless appeared, jumping about with their armor clanking metallically against itself, their yellow eyes glowing viciously from within the shadows of their helmets. Sora groaned angrily. As if things couldn't have gotten worse…it just did.

Leon was right. This was never going to end. As long as he was wielding the Keyblade… He clutched the Keyblade with both hands and charged.

* * *

…

…

Selphie looked sheepishly at the damage that she had managed to cause by pressing a button. Apparently, it had raised pillars from the ground and had the whole place on lockdown. (9)

"Uh…uh…uh…" Selphie said. "I wonder what this one does!"

Selphie pushed down on a green button, blinking when a gloved hand came out of nowhere with a pie in its hand. Selphie stared at the gloved hand, wondering what it was until, suddenly!

SPLAT!

Selphie froze as the gloved hand had just thrown the pie directly at her face.

"_I hate this thing already…"_ she thought as she pried off the pie on her face. She wiped her face a bit, licking her lips afterwards. "Mmm…blackberry!"

As much as she hated the fact that she just got hit in the face with a pie, Selphie couldn't help but find the pie she was hit with, delicious. Selphie looked around the many buttons in front of her, now very wary of them. Just imagine what that green button could do…

Self destruct, maybe? That would be bad…

"Okay, I need to help out Sora and Gabby…but how?" she asked herself. "Gah…gotta BS this!"

* * *

…

…

…

"Selphie!" Tidus exclaimed, sitting up in bed.

Tidus breathed in and out as he looked around the room he was in. He was in what seemed to be a simple room…that smelled faintly of cigarettes. Tidus blinked a few times and realized something…

"I made it…" said Tidus. "I made—Yuna!"

Tidus looked around frantically for Yuna, letting out a sigh in relief only when he spotted the Summoner right next to him in bed. He was relieved…both he and Yuna had made it…

"_All thanks to Valefor…"_ thought Tidus.

Tidus placed his hand on Yuna's shoulder and began to gently shake the Summoner awake.

"Yuna…c'mon, time to wake up," said Tidus. "We made it!"

Yuna was slowly roused from her sleep, groaning as she sat up.

"Where…are we?" she asked.

Tidus didn't know exactly. "I dunno…but we made it."

Yuna rubbed her eye as she looked at Tidus. "That's great, but…where are the others?"

Tidus frowned. "I don't know about that either…"

"Looks like you two are doing okay!" said a voice.

Tidus and Yuna blinked before turned to see what seemed to be an anthropomorphic duck standing in the doorway. The duck wore a red baseball cap and turtleneck of the same color.

Huey was glad to see that the two refugees were awake. However, what he didn't expect, was this outburst from the younger refugee.

"Holy crap, a talking duck!" exclaimed Tidus. (10)

Yuna blinked and stared sternly at Tidus as she scolded him. "What have I told you about being rude to people we don't know?"

"But it's a talking duck!" whined Tidus.

Yuna knew that already and she was as stunned as Tidus, but that didn't mean she had to be so verbal about it. Sighing, Yuna got out of the bed she was in with Tidus and faced the duck. She bowed respectfully at him as she apologized.

"So sorry about my cousin…" she said. (11)

Huey stared at the girl apologizing in front of him. He didn't expect this from her either…just who were these two? That didn't matter, now…

"It's okay," said Huey. "Me and my brothers got the same reaction when we first came here…by the way, my name's Huey! Nice to meetcha!"

Yuna looked up and smiled at Huey. "Well, it's good to meet you, too! My name's Yuna…"

Tidus, having gotten over his shock, got out of bed and walked over to Huey. He looked over Huey and nodded before holding out his hand to the duck.

"I'm Tidus!" said Tidus. "Sorry about that outburst, just…you're a duck and you can talk!"

Huey laughed awkwardly as he took Tidus's hand and shook it.

"It's just awesome!" said Tidus.

Huey blinked and nodded. "Well…thanks, I guess…say, are you two hungry?"

Tidus blushed as he could hear his stomach growl loudly. He laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. Yuna just face-palmed.

"Oh, Tidus…" she said.

…

…

…

* * *

Donald and Goofy looked over at Sora, watching him run forward and swing the Keyblade viciously at the army of Heartless. Goofy looked down at Donald.

"Y'know, I think we oughta help him," he said, grabbing onto his shield.

"For once, you're right," Donald agreed, raising his staff and starting up a spell.

…

"Incoming!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora turned and exclaimed as Gabby kicked a Heartless his way. Immediately, Sora swung his Keyblade at the Heartless and killed it. Panting, Sora turned to Gabby and high-fived her as she ran up to his side.

"Another one bites the dust!" she chirped.

Sora nodded. _"I guess…she isn't that bad of a partner."_

However, that didn't mean Sora had accepted Gabby as his partner…she still had a _long_ way to go before she even came close to being considered his partner. Unbeknownst to Sora at first, was that Donald and Goofy were helping them out. As he fought his way through the Heartless, with Gabby usually kicking them his way and collecting the items they dropped, he took a bit of time to watch them.

The dog didn't seem like he would be able to fight, since all he was holding was a shield, but if Sora knew anything, even a shield was considered a weapon. Sora wasn't actually surprised to watch the dog barrel through the swarms of Heartless with his shield, and whacking them with the edge of it. As for the white duck…he was definitely a Mage…most likely a Black Mage since all he did was cast Fire and Thunder spells. He did show some physical strength as he ran into the action with his magic staff, flailing it around and managing to bash some Heartless over the head with it.

"Look out!" yelled the duck.

Sora turned his head and noticed, almost a moment too late, that one of the armored Heartless had snuck up on him from behind. His eyes went wide in shock, trying to get his feet to move him out of the way. He swung the Keyblade clumsily, losing his balance and falling onto his butt. That's when it happened. A shield popped out from the corner of Sora's eye, knocking the Heartless out of the way.

Goofy stepped into Sora's field of vision and looked over at him. He extended one gloved hand toward Sora.

"You okay?" he asked, offering his hand to Sora.

"Yeah," Sora said hesitantly, taking hold of Goofy's hand and rising to his feet. "Thanks."

The dog captain smiled at Sora and gave him a thumbs-up. Sora smiled back.

Meanwhile Donald, he was currently fighting off a Heartless with his Magic when he found out he couldn't cast another spell. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, the Heartless managed to knock him back into a wall with an attack.

THUD!

Donald was nearly unconscious after the impact he had with the wall. He stared out, somewhat dazed as yellow stars circled around the top of his head.

"Aww…" he lamented.

"Don't give up!" exclaimed a voice.

Donald blinked as a green substance in the form of a little bubble fell over his head. The bubble burst into small, glowing green leaves that encircled him and at that moment, Donald felt revitalized. Immediately, he got up from the ground, somewhat angry as he threw a bit of a fit. He would show those Heartless who's the boss…though, who threw that potion on him?

Donald adjusted his hat as he looked around, blinking when his gaze fell upon a schoolgirl. She laughed as she waved at him.

"That was me!" she chirped. "Sorry I don't have an ether on me, but I can't use Magic…so you're on your own, there. But I will tell ya this…I'll watch your back!"

Donald nodded as Gabby smiled at him. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what a schoolgirl like her was doing in a mess like this…

"We did it!" Goofy exclaimed ecstatically as he jumped up and down.

"We beat them all!" exclaimed Sora.

Sora grinned and high-fived Goofy afterwards, both praising each other for a job well done. Donald and Gabby looked at each other before walking over to their partners.

"So…what now?" asked Gabby.

Sora shrugged. "No clue…"

"Gawrsh, look up there!" said Goofy.

Sora, Gabby, and Donald looked over at Goofy, who was pointing up at the sky. Whatever he was pointing at was coming toward them, its shape growing bigger and bigger with each passing moment. As all four of them looked on, they realized that there was more than one object falling from the sky.

None of them had any idea what they were until they hit the ground nearby, shaking the floor so violently that all four of them toppled over. They were five large objects all of them dark purple colored pieces of armor: two arms, two legs, and a torso. They each bounced off the stone flooring and spun in the air before each limb attached itself to the torso piece. As soon as they had attached, another piece tumbled from the sky and landed with a loud clang on the top of the torso. It was the head.

Sora clambered to his feet, gripping the Keyblade in his hands and stared up at the giant suit of armor. "Well, we found Leader!"

Now where the hell was Leon in this?

* * *

Meanwhile in the Third District behind the pillars,

Leon and Yuffie were busy dispatching the Heartless that began to swarm near the Third District's entryway to the Second District. They had no other means of escape or anything, the doors were shut and the pillars blocked everything!

"Leon!" exclaimed Yuffie. "Where's Aerith?"

Leon grunted as he barely blocked an attack from a soldier-like Heartless. No sooner after blocking, Leon quickly swung his Gunblade down on the Heartless, killing it instantly. Afterwards, Leon placed his hand on his right ear and said, "Yuffie, watch my back!"

Yuffie looked at Leon and nodded as she began to take out the heavy artillery…her 4-Point Shuriken!

"_Gawd, I just hope this thing doesn't hit Squall,"_ thought Yuffie.

As skilled as she was, Yuffie wasn't able to control the movement on her 4-Point Shuriken…_yet_! She was supposed to learn how to this coming late fall, which meant…back to school!

"_I hate school, but I also hate Heartless,"_ thought Yuffie. "Take this!"

Yuffie bit her lip and threw her shuriken at a few unsuspecting Heartless. Lucky! She got a good hit, which meant a good start! As Yuffie busied herself with Heartless duty, Leon took this chance to contact Aerith via headset.

* * *

Elsewhere,

Aerith was having a slightly harder time in the Second District as she made her way to the source of what caused the lockdown in the Third District. A couple of Heartless got in her way, but they were quickly dispatched of thanks to her sturdy and powerful quarterstaff! And Cid told her that a stick was going to get her nowhere in this type of environment, oh how satisfying it was to prove that man wrong!

It felt good to be a flower girl who could kick ass… (12)

"_**Aerith!"**_ said a voice.

Aerith slowed down her pace before coming to a complete stop in front of the Hotel. Her headset was picking up a transmission and judging by the voice, it was Leon.

Aerith quickly turned on her headset's transmitter and replied, "Yes, this is Aerith Gainsborough. How may I save your ass today, if you will?"

Aerith grinned as she heard Leon respond back.

"_**Aerith, this is no time for jokes!"**_ exclaimed Leon's voice. _**"What the hell is taking you so long?"**_

"Well, for one thing, I had to break a window to escape the hotel," replied Aerith. "And for another, these Heartless were attacking my flower garden."

"_**What is it with you and your garden?"**_ asked Leon.

"What is it with you and brooding?" remarked Aerith. "And let us not forget your name change to Leon, _Squall_…"

…

…

"_**Never mind, that, let's talk about that later and please don't act like Yuffie…right now, where are you?"**_ asked Leon.

"Well, I'm in front of the Hotel, just a few feet away from the Gizmo Shop before you started talking to me," Aerith replied as she turned to the Gizmo Shop. "Can I go, now?"

Aerith heard Leon sigh and reply, _**"Proceed."**_

Aerith smiled and nodded as she continued to make her way towards the Gizmo Shop. Moments later, she came upon a perplexed Cid, who was currently standing in front of a door with a sign on it that read "Control Room".

"Dammit, why isn't this working?" Cid asked as he scratched his head and chewed on the end of his toothpick. "And really, why did I ever let Huey, Dewey, and Louie design this building?"

Cid never knew the exact reason, but the three nephews were extremely skilled mechanics so it probably had to do with something like that… (13)

Aerith slammed the door behind her, barely avoiding a few Heartless that just appeared within the Gizmo Shop's restricted area. Cid heard Aerith and turned to her, wearing a grin on his face.

"Well, hello to you, too, Miss Sunshine," said Cid. "What seems to be the problem today?"

Aerith turned and faced the door as she cautiously backed away, her quarterstaff in hand.

"Leon and Yuffie are in trouble," said Aerith. "We need to deactivate the lockdown in the Third District."

"Well, that's too damn bad, because I can't get in!" exclaimed Cid. "Someone changed the password!"

Aerith blinked. "But only you, Huey, Dewey, and Louie know how to do that, meaning…"

"Someone's inside," said Cid. "And that little bastard hacked into the main control mechanism. When I get my hands on him…oh, there will be hell to pay!"

* * *

…

…

…

Selphie stared agape at the monster that was in front of her friends and what seemed to be a talking dog and duck. Thanks to her mistake, she had them trapped!

_"Oh, my god…"_ she thought. _"What now?"_

Selphie looked at the buttons in front of her. Ever since the pie, which was extremely delicious and actually filling (she was starving), Selphie was very wary of the buttons, especially since she accidentally activated the lockdown. She bit her lip as she decided she couldn't just stand around doing nothing.

"Well, since I got nothing much to lose, now…" said Selphie. "And if I don't do anything, then I'll lose Sora and Gabby…I wonder what this doohickey does…"

Selphie pressed a random button and at that exact moment she did that, the control room immediately lit up and came to life. Sounds began to resonate from the various beeps coming from the machinery. Selphie stared wide-eyed at the machinery.

"Whoops, I think that did it!" she exclaimed. "Who designed this thing?"

She actually found it quite entertaining…

"Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh…" Selphie repeatedly said as she stared at the levers and glowing buttons.

The control room wasn't that lively until she pressed that button…

"Uuuuuuuuuuumh..." she said as she stared at a lever. "Uuuuuuuuuhm..."

Selphie grasped the lever, hesitating as she debated whether or not to pull it down.

"Uuuuuuuuuhmmmm..." she said as she pulled down.

Immediately, a gloved hand came out and slapped her with another glove. Selphie yelped and rubbed her cheek as she glared at the lever she pulled down.

"Dang it!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to do that…gah, that hurt…okay, screw this!"

Selphie began to pull random levers and push multiple buttons frantically. Unbeknownst to her, as she did this, the world's many built in security systems began to react. In the First District, the many lampposts within the district began to light up brightly as fire began to shoot out from within them, raining down on many unsuspecting Heartless.

…

…

…

* * *

Tidus and Yuna had been conversing with Huey and his brothers, Dewey and Louie. The trio had given them an explanation what had happened. They were in another world called Traverse Town and that their own world…was gone.

Tidus and Tuna sort of figured that out, but even so…the confirmation was rather unsettling…

"Everyone…" said Yuna.

…

"Hey, what's going on outside?" asked Tidus.

Huey blinked and looked outside a window and laughed. "Looks like Cid finally got the hang of the defense mechanism!"

Yuna's eyes widened. "Cid? He made it?"

Dewey looked questioningly at Yuna. "You know Cid?"

Tidus nodded. "Cid Sakaguchi's our uncle…do you know where he is?"

Louie blinked and frowned. "I think you got the wrong Cid…"

Tidus tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"The Cid I'm talking about is Cid Highwind," explained Huey. "And from what we know, he has no living relatives…" (14)

Tidus frowned. "Oh…"

Yuna sighed and looked down. "That's too bad…for a minute…"

"Cheer up!" exclaimed Louie. "If you made it out, maybe some people you know also made it out!"

Huey and Dewey nodded. "Yeah!"

Yuna looked up and smiled at the duck trio. "Thank you…Tidus?"

Tidus looked at Yuna and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay…I wonder if Selphie, Wakka, or Lulu made it out…"

"And Cassie and Seymour…" said Yuna. "They have to…they were with us when Valefor saved us…"

Valefor had barely managed to save the group before the dark creatures had attacked them. For that, Yuna was very much thankful for her Aeon.

"By the way…what was that weird creature that was with you?" asked Louie.

Yuna blinked and looked at Louie. "Oh, you mean Valefor?"

"It has a name?" asked Dewey.

Yuna nodded. "Yes, she's my Aeon."

"What's an Aeon?" asked Huey.

Tidus blinked and grinned as he placed his arms behind his head. Every time someone asked about Valefor, Yuna always had to explain what an Aeon was…and with each explanation, it made Tidus more and more proud of his cousin. He really did take pride in his cousin's abilities.

…

…

* * *

In the Gizmo Shop itself, many of the machines and devices in the whole room seemed to come alive, spinning and slamming into many Heartless as well as crushing, them. The room wasn't safe!

Aerith barely avoided a huge, red punching glove to the face. Cid barely dodged a slamming mallet over his head and both of them were the victims of a seltzer-spraying prank.

"Why did I let Huey, Dewey, and Louie designed the control room and defense mechanism?" Cid exclaimed as he wiped his face of the seltzer liquid.

Because of it, Cid had yet to master the nephews' control mechanism. It was too complicated and seemed like something that would come out of a cartoon… (15)

* * *

Sora watched the pieces of armor float about in a wide circle around him and the others, his eyes fixating on one of its arms. He carefully watched it in its orbit, waiting for his opening. After a moment, Sora tightened his grip on the Keyblade and dashed at the arm, leaping into the air and unleashing an airborne blitz on it.

"Gabby, your turn!" he exclaimed.

Gabby blinked and nodded as she held out her right hand, summoning her Keyblade. "This guy's mine!"

Gabby grabbed her Keyblade's hilt with both hands as she charged directly towards the giant armored torso. She leapt up into the air and slammed her Keyblade down on the torso, landing a rather nice attack from above to it. After landing on the ground, Gabby turned and readied her Keyblade for a rather forceful swing as she aimed it towards Sora.

"Get ready, Sora!" she exclaimed. "I'll give the word!"

Sora nodded as he did the same, waiting patiently for Gabby to give the word.

"Now!" she exclaimed, swinging her Keyblade forcefully against the torso's back.

This sent the torso right at Sora, who swung his Keyblade in retaliation, sending the torso right into a wall.

THUD!

The torso fell onto the ground after its impact with the wall. The arms, legs, and head fell down onto the ground in turn after the torso, all of which stopped moving after that. Sora and Gabby ran towards each other, slapping their hands in a high-five as they passed each other.

"We have it stunned!" they exclaimed.

Goofy and Donald stared, somewhat in shock. They couldn't believe what just happened…to add even more to their disbelief, the schoolgirl also had a Keyblade. It was confusing as Donald and Goofy had been told about one key, not two by their King in the letter…

"C'mon, you guys!" exclaimed Sora. "Hurry and help us attack it while it's stunned!"

Donald snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the two kids, who were currently double-teaming an arm. He turned to Goofy.

"C'mon!" Donald yelled, raising his staff in the air. "Let's go, Goofy!"

Goofy and Donald ran forward, their weapons held up as they joined the two kids in their attack. They each attacked the arm, swinging their weapons madly into the metal surface of the armor. With four against one, it didn't take long before the piece of armor reacted violently to the massive damage it received from the four.

The armor shook violently, creating the most awful noise of metal scratching against more metal, before finally exploding into what seemed like purple dust and vanishing into thin air.

"One down!" the group exclaimed ecstatically.

Though, unfortunately for them, the rest of the armor had snapped out of its stunned state. The armor picked itself up and started to float around again, this time, acting out of control. It was almost as if each part of the armor had gone crazy at the expense of its arm.

"Not good!" the group exclaimed in impressive unison.

* * *

Selphie exclaimed as she saw her friends and the duck and dog getting attacked by the armored monster. The armored parts just suddenly went berserk! Each armored part wandered about the district on their own free will, randomly attacking. It didn't even matter if the nearest opponent was a good ten feet away! It just kept attacking…

Selphie blinked as she noticed the monster was now missing its arm. She smiled as she pumped her fist into the air. "Way to go, guys!"

Her celebration was short-lived as the remaining arm was throwing punches at Sora while the torso and the head spun around in circles around the area, seemingly trying to hit somebody. That somebody just so happened to be Gabby, who was sent into the air by the torso's attack.

Selphie winced as she watched Gabby crash land right into a wall, face-first.

"Oh, that _had_ to hurt…" said Selphie.

The remaining part of the monster, the feet, stomped about the area angrily, occasionally leaping into the air and stomping back onto the ground with a loud, violent thud. Selphie bit her lip as she realized that if she didn't do something soon; her friends could get seriously hurt.

"I wonder what this contraption does," Selphie said as she pulled down a lever.

Nothing happened…

"Aww, man…nothing!" she complained. "Ah, crap…what now? Uh…which one haven't I pulled down yet?"

Unbeknownst to Selphie, the lever she pulled actually did something…well, outside of the control room, that is.

…

A set of slots appeared right in front of Cid, the wheels spinning as lights began to light up. Cid and Aerith stared at the slots in awe as they watched the wheels spin. Aerith quickly snapped out of her awestricken state as she shook Cid's shoulders.

"Cid, snap out of it!" exclaimed Aerith. "Leon and Yuffie need our help! We need to get inside!"

Cid waved Aerith's hands away as he said, "Just a sec, Aerith, I think this may just be our lucky day! Come on, sevens!" (16)

Coincidentally, the first wheel stopped on a red '7', much to Cid's delight as the second did as well and then—

"HELL YES!" whooped Cid. "Jackpot!"

Aerith blinked. "What did we win?"

* * *

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy narrowly avoided the armored Heartless's stomping feet, a bright light suddenly lit up above them and stunned the Heartless momentarily. Items quickly dropped down onto the ground in the form of many useful healing and magic replenishing items, including the elusive elixir.

Gabby pushed herself off the wall, gripping her head as she felt a rather headache come on.

"Gah…" she groaned. "My head…huh?"

Gabby blinked as she looked at an item in front of her. Immediately, her headache's pain was numbed by the discovery of the item in front of her.

"Elixirs!" she exclaimed.

And there were even more of them!

"Jackpot!" she chirped.

Gabby took no time to jump at any elixirs as she began to gather them all up. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were just stunned.

"What just happened?" asked Sora.

Donald had no clue, but he did notice that the Heartless was very much vulnerable in its stunned state.

"Attack!" exclaimed Donald.

Sora blinked and nodded as he charged towards the Heartless, his Keyblade ready for attack.

* * *

…

…

Golden orbs of many shapes were practically littering the floor since Cid's jackpot on the slots. Aerith quickly pocketed the yellow orbs within the room. She and the rest of her friends were _so_ set for equipment and items! The orbs were actually money, called "Munny" and just like any other type of money, it was used to buy things! And for Aerith, she had been eyeing a quarterstaff in the nephews' shop for quite some time, now…

Cid was rather happy and actually liked the slot system! This was probably the town's emergency supply…a damn good one, at that! He'd be sure to split the majority of the money with some of the town's residence… He was pretty sure Sora and Gabby would need it, as would the new refugees he and the nephews had found.

…

Selphie blinked and grinned as she finally came upon the last button she had yet to push.

"Here goes!" she exclaimed. "Booyaka!"

…

Cid blinked as he swore he could hear a voice exclaim, "Booyaka!"

"_Booyaka…"_ thought Cid. _"Maybe…"_

Cid walked over to the keypad that was on the side of the control room's door. Slowly, he began to punch in the right keys.

* * *

Yuffie was still picking up the Munny that was set on the ground after a surprising bright light lit the whole area. Leon took advantage of many-stunned Heartless as his partner gathered whatever she found of use on the ground.

"Munny raining down from the sky~!" chirped Yuffie. "I thought this day would never happen!"

Leon face-palmed, wondering if it was too late for him to switch partners with Cid…I mean, eight and a half years isn't that long, is it? Also, the Munny…

"Must be the Town's emergency supply," said Leon.

Yuffie diverted her eyes on Leon as she walked over to him with her arms full of items and elixirs.

"That explains the elixirs and this Protega Chain I found," Yuffie said as she held up a silver chain. "You want it?"

Leon looked at Yuffie and held out his hand. Just as Yuffie was about give him the Protega chain, the whole area suddenly started to shake violently. Yuffie and Leon looked around to see what the source was, but could find nothing.

…

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy were in a different perspective than Leon and Yuffie. They knew where the shaking was coming from…it was right in front of them. A pair of mechanical white gloved hands had come out of the ground, which was pretty much the cause of the shaking.

The hands extended over the purple-armored Heartless, taking it somewhat by surprise. The hands proceeded to punch the living daylights out of it like there was no tomorrow.

As the gloved hands did this, many items fell from the Heartless, which Gabby dove after and gathered up with the help of Sora. Donald and Goofy soon joined in the two's item collecting session. They had nothing much to do and the Heartless was pretty much getting beat up by a pair of mechanical hands.

The Heartless was assaulted with pies, a seltzer, a punching glove, and finally, as a finishing attack, a grenade. One of the hands held a grenade in its possession, which it launched at the Heartless. The grenade landed directly inside the monster's torso, and with precise timing, the grenade suddenly exploded.

The explosion caused gigantic Heartless to lose its entire limbs save for its torso and head. Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy stared at the remains of the armored Heartless that pretty much gave them hell just a few minutes ago.

Suddenly, the armored-Heartless shook violently. It shook and rattled, grinding sheets of metal against each other as sparks flew from the friction. The group merely watched with wide eyes as the slowly stepped backwards, away from the armor. Then, just as quickly as the shaking had begun, it stopped. The headpiece dropped onto the armor with a loud "CLANK", and then tumbled from there onto the ground with a loud metallic thud.

The armored torso began to glow. Sora and Gabby blinked as they both watched a huge, glowing pink heart fluttered out from within the torso. The heart rose into the air, soon disappearing into the starry, night sky. The torso soon disappeared afterwards, fading away into nonexistence.

The white gloved hands that were the true cause of the Heartless's demise, high-fived each other and then shook hands. They then bumped knuckles with each other before knuckle bump and finally disappearing back into the ground.

The pillars that had been blocking off the escape routes in the Third District descended into the ground, allowing Yuffie and Leon passage as they walked down the steps to meet up with Sora and Gabby as well as their acquaintances, Donald and Goofy.

* * *

Aerith blinked as her headset picked up a transmission from Leon.

"_**The pillars are gone,"**_ said Leon. _**"It took you guys thirty minutes to deactivate the lockdown…"**_

"Oh, shut up, Mr. S.U.T.A.!" exclaimed Aerith.

"_**You've been hanging out with Yuffie, haven't you?"**_ asked Leon.

"Does it really matter?" asked Aerith.

"_**I guess not…"**_ said Leon. _**"So what took you guys?"**_

"Leon…we weren't the ones to deactivate the lockdown," said Aerith. "In fact, Cid couldn't get through the door. Someone changed the password…"

"_**What happened?"**_ asked Leon.

"Someone hacked into the system," replied Aerith.

"And that little hacker is in this room!" Cid exclaimed as he punched in the password again. "How about B-O-O-Y-A-K-A…" (17)

"**Password accepted,"** said a small electronic voice.

Cid blinked and grinned. "Finally, it's open!"

"_**What's going on?" **_asked Leon.

"Cid just got the door open…" said Aerith. "What do I do now?"

"_**Let him handle the rest, just get over here,"**_ said Leon.

Aerith nodded and replied with a quick, "Got it! See ya in a few minutes!"

CLICK!

…

Selphie stared in awe at the monitors, having watched everything. And it all happened by pressing that one button…

"What's gonna happen if I do that again?" she asked.

"Don't…" said a gruff voice.

Selphie nearly jumped up in her seat as she squeaked. She wasn't alone…

…

Cid stared wide-eyed at the hacker…he couldn't believe it! The hacker who had changed the password and had caused all this mayhem was a little girl? That was almost as surprising when he found out Gabby was engaged…almost. Cid still couldn't believe Gabby was engaged…

"What the fuck…?" said Cid.

Selphie slowly turned her head, her eyes widening when she spotted a blond man with a spear in his hand.

"_Crap…"_ she thought. "I'm screwed…"

Cid blinked and shook his head, snapping out of his shock. He then looked at Selphie and glared at her.

"You will be when I'm through with you!" exclaimed Cid. "Messing with Traverse Town's defense mechanism…and changing the password, to boot! You little hacker!"

Selphie flailed her arms around as she sputtered. "P-P-P-Please let me explain!"

Cid readied his spear. "I'll give you one minute to explain yourself."

"That's so unfair!" complained Selphie. "Screw this!"

Selphie quickly untied the jump rope around her waist. She counted herself very lucky to still have it in her possession. Cid stared strangely at Selphie as she positioned herself with her jump rope as a weapon.

"Don't get any closer!" she exclaimed.

Cid couldn't believe it…

"A jump rope?" he scoffed. "What are you gonna do? Jump with it?"

Selphie scowled. "Don't tempt me!"

"Please…" Cid said. "What harm can a damn jump rope do?"

Selphie clenched her teeth as she glared at Cid. "Okay, you asked for it!"

WHACK!

Cid yelped as Selphie used her jump rope as a makeshift whip, hitting Cid over the head with its wooden end. It didn't do much damage, but it had Cid momentarily stunned and for Selphie, she appreciated this moment of opportunity. She took advantage of this as she ran past Cid, making it out the door.

"See ya later, Gramps!" she taunted, laughing afterwards.

Cid snapped out of his daze and glared at the young girl as he could see her disappear out the door. "Why that little…"

* * *

…

Yuna and Tidus waved at the duck trio as they left the Item Shop. Huey, Dewey, and Louie were very nice when they gave the two newcomers a good amount of potions and ethers as well as a few defense items…they even threw in a map!

"So, where to?" asked Tidus.

Yuna looked at the map. "Well, we're in the First District…there's a door just over there leading to the Third District and there's another just beyond this path leading to the Second District…"

"Let's go to the Second District," said Tidus. "We should go in order."

"I suppose…" said Yuna. "I hope everyone is all right…"

* * *

Aerith inhaled and exhaled as she entered the Third District. She ran all the way from the Gizmo Shop to here…

"_I wonder if Cid's okay…?"_ thought Aerith.

Sighing, Aerith made her way down the steps to join up with the rest of the group.

…

Sora stared at the duck and dog, having just gotten the whole explanation from them.

"So let me get this straight," Sora said, pointing at Gabby and himself in shock. "You were looking for us…right?"

Donald and Goofy nodded their heads firmly.

"Though, we didn't expect there to be two of ya," Goofy admitted.

Donald couldn't help but agree with Goofy.

"They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade," said a voice. "Or rather, wielders, in this case…"

Everyone turned to see Leon and Yuffie walking towards the group. Aerith quickly joined up with Leon and Yuffie after running down the steps.

"In either case, they're just as confuse as us," said Leon. "We have no clue as to why there are two wielders…"

Sora blinked and narrowed his eyes at Leon and Yuffie. As for Aerith…he didn't know her, so he excluded her out of this. He was mad at Leon and Yuffie for leaving him, Gabby, and a talking dog and duck fight off the leader.

"Where the hell have you guys been?" asked Sora. "…I mean no offense to you, ma'am! I'm referring to just Leon and Yuffie!"

Aerith nodded as she smiled at Sora. "None taken…"

Yuffie jabbed her thumb in the direction behind her. "Fighting off Heartless in a small enclosed place behind the pillars…We had no means of getting to you or escaping."

"The lockdown mechanism had been activated by a hacker who got into the control room," explained Aerith.

Leon nodded. "We have yet to figure out who the hacker was, but Cid's on it…"

Gabby rubbed the back of her head as she replied, "That explains a lot."

Yuffie closed her eyes and smiled. "It sure does!" (18)

"I wonder how Cid's doing…" Aerith wondered aloud.

* * *

…

…

"You little brat, get your ass over here!" Cid yelled as he chased after Selphie.

Selphie ignored Cid as jumped from rooftop to rooftop. She had climbed up onto the Gizmo Shop rooftop in her escape and, thanks to her quick thinking; she had managed to throw Cid off her trail…for the moment.

It didn't take long for Cid to find her as he knew his way around Traverse Town like the back of his hand. He would not let a young girl get the best of him!

…

"Do you hear something?" asked Yuna.

Tidus blinked a few times. He heard it…but he wasn't sure what it was. It sounded like a rather angry man…

"Let's just keep on moving," said Tidus. "What's next on the map?"

Yuna looked at her map, using her index finger to pinpoint certain locations on it.

"Well, there's a lot more in the Second District, that's for sure," Yuna said before looking at Tidus. "You wanna look around here?"

"Let's go to the Third District first," said Tidus. "We'll take a better look around here, afterwards."

Yuna nodded. "Okay, the entrance to the Third District is just down these steps to our right."

Yuna and Tidus made their way down the steps to the lower level of the Second District. They then took a right turn into an alley. As they continued walking, Tidus and Yuna soon came to a door that led to the Third District.

…

Selphie bit her lip as she had run out of rooftops to jump on. She looked around for a few seconds, stopping when she spotted two very familiar people just below her.

"Yuna, Tidus!" she exclaimed.

Tidus and Yuna didn't seem to hear Selphie as they entered through a door. Hyped up on her discovery, Selphie jumped off the rooftop and landed right in front of the door Tidus and Yuna just went through. Unfortunately for Selphie, she landed the wrong way and as a result, felt pain from the landing.

"Gah…" she said, clenching her teeth as she winced. "Damn…it…"

"Where are ya, you little brat?" exclaimed Cid.

Selphie cursed as she almost forgot about the guy that was chasing her. "Well, at least he doesn't know I'm down—"

"Found ya!" exclaimed Cid.

Selphie flinched. "Busted!"

"Damn straight, you are!" Cid yelled as he looked down at Selphie. "When I get my hands on you…"

* * *

…

"Hey," said Goofy. "Why dontcha come with us?"

Sora and Gabby stared at Goofy. "What?"

Goofy nodded. "We can go to other worlds on our vessel."

Gabby couldn't believe it… She looked at Sora, frowning when she saw his saddened expression as he stared down at his shoes. She thought he would be happy to hear this…but he wasn't.

"I wonder if we could find Riku and Kairi…" Sora wondered aloud.

"_Oh, so that's it…"_ thought Gabby.

Their friends were still missing…

…

Tidus and Yuna stopped in their tracks as they heard a very familiar voice. The two cousins looked at each other. It was Sora…it had to be! Tidus ran ahead of Yuna, not slowing down once as he made his way down the steps.

"_Sora…!"_ he thought. "Sora…Sora!"

…

Sora looked up. Someone was calling his name…that voice…he recognized it!

"Tidus!" he exclaimed.

Gabby looked around frantically. "Where?"

Sora and Gabby looked left to right for the sandy-blond. Everyone else just wondered who was it the two were looking for. Aerith blinked as she could hear footsteps…someone was behind her!

Aerith turned around and watched as a boy with sandy-blond hair run out from behind the wall that was covering the steps. He stopped to catch his breath as he placed his hand on the wall for support, breathing in and out before lifting his head to look up. Aerith smiled and gestured at the boy.

"Over here," she said.

Tidus blinked as he stared at the brown-haired, green-eyed young woman. Who was she? She looked very friendly… Tidus's eyes widened as the young woman directed him towards two very familiar people.

"Sora!" he exclaimed. "Gabby!"

Everyone directed their attention on Tidus as he stared ahead, his gaze focused on Sora and Gabby. Tidus smiled as he stared at his two friends. They made it, as well… Tidus choked back a sob that wanted to escape his mouth. He was just so happy he found Sora and Gabby…that he was getting emotional over this…no! He would not cry!

Tidus blinked back his tears as he ran over to Sora and Gabby. "Sora! Gabby!"

Sora and Gabby stared wide-eyed at Tidus. He made it as well…he didn't disappear like their world, he was just right there…

"Tidus!" they both yelled.

Everyone watched as Sora, Gabby, and Tidus reunited with each other. Tidus brought Sora and Gabby closer to him as he brought them into a group hug.

"It's real…" he said, his voice somewhat choky. "You're really here…"

Sora laughed as he patted Tidus on the head. "It's really good to see you, Tidus…"

Gabby smiled as she returned Tidus's hug. "You made it…"

…

Yuna covered her mouth, muffling a loud gasp as she looked down from the top of the steps, just next to an abandoned house. She and Tidus had not only found Sora, but also Gabby… Instead of calling out to them like Tidus had, she decided to do something differently.

…

A loud whistle caught everyone's attention, especially Tidus, Gabby, and Sora's. (19) The three of them looked up and spotted a very familiar Summoner.

"Yuna!" exclaimed Sora and Gabby.

Yuna smiled back at the two as she got up on the railing and jumped down. She knew she wasn't good with her jumping, especially without Cassie, but for her friends…she didn't care. Yuna landed on her feet, wincing as she could feel the pain coursing through her heels. She landed the wrong way, but…she didn't care.

Yuna walked towards Tidus, Sora, and Gabby, smiling as she saw that two of her friends had made it. She welcomed Sora and Gabby with open arms as they ran towards her. She smiled as she warmly embraced the two after they latched onto her. Tidus was right…they were real…

"Yuna…you're crying," said Tidus.

Yuna blinked and realized Tidus was right…she was crying, but she didn't care. She was just so happy…

"It's okay, Tidus…I'm just," said Yuna. "I'm just happy…"

Tidus frowned as he could feel the tears prickling his eyes again. Yuna's crying…made him want to cry as well, but he wouldn't…he wasn't a crybaby… Tidus rubbed his eye as he walked over to Yuna, Sora, and Gabby. Yuna looked at Tidus and smiled reassuringly to him.

"It's okay, Tidus…you can cry," she said.

Tidus bit his lip as he could now feel the tears streaming down his cheeks. Sora and Gabby looked at Tidus, frowning when they saw how hard he was trying to not cry.

"I'm not a crybaby," said Tidus. (20)

Sora let go of Yuna and walked up to Tidus. He placed his hand on top of Tidus's head and ruffled his hair.

"Tidus…it's okay," said Sora. "You can cry…"

"We're here for you," said Gabby.

"It's okay…" said Yuna. "C'mon…let it out."

With his friends supporting him as well as reassuring him, Tidus couldn't hold it in any longer and started bawling.

Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, Donald, and Goofy had been watching the group. Yuffie and Aerith were very happy for Sora and Gabby. Donald didn't want to show it or even admit it, but he was nearly brought to tears after watching those two reunite with their friends. Goofy was just happy to see Sora and Gabby smiling. Even Leon couldn't help but manage a small smile as he saw Sora and Gabby reunite with their friends.

…

Selphie dashed into the Third District, having just escaped the man that held a grudge against her. She and Cid had been at it for quite some time…he just wouldn't let the fact that she had messed around with the control room!

"Huh?" Selphie blinked as she could clearly hear someone crying. _"That's sounds like…Tidus!"_

Selphie looked around and saw a set of steps going down, but she didn't bother with that, no. She decided to hop the railing instead. She didn't have time to take the steps, that guy was still on her case.

As she got on top of the railing, Cid had barged through the doors. He glared at Selphie with daggers as he pointed at her.

"You!" he exclaimed.

Selphie looked at Cid and then looked down. She smiled as she saw that her friends were just below her. Nodding her head, Selphie dropped down and landed deftly onto the ground, right next to her friends.

"Selphie!" exclaimed Yuna.

Tidus stopped his crying as he turned and saw Selphie. She smiled as she waved at him.

"Hello!" she said.

Tidus smiled widely and latched onto Selphie. "You made it!"

"Yup!" she chirped. "It's good to see that you guys also made it!"

Sora and Gabby walked up to Selphie and smiled as they latched onto her as well. They were so happy to see her as well.

Yuna smiled as she looked at Selphie, who was currently in a group hug with Tidus, Sora, and Gabby.

"If you think you're getting away that easily, I'm afraid you're wrong, you little hacker!" exclaimed a voice.

Selphie blinked and shrieked as she saw Cid, whom had just run into view. Yuna blinked and looked at Selphie as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Selphie, what did you do, this time?" she asked.

Tidus, Sora, and Gabby released Selphie as they all looked at her. Selphie laughed awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head.

Cid blinked as he saw the little girl with Sora, Gabby, and the two refugees the nephews had found.

"What's going on?" asked Leon.

Cid scowled as he pointed at Selphie. "That little brat…she's the hacker who got into the control room!"

"WHAT?" exclaimed Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie.

Selphie laughed nervously as she found everyone's attention focused on her. Yuna sighed and shook her head as she walked over to Cid. She had some explaining to do…

After Yuna had managed to calm Cid down, with the help of Aerith, Selphie had given a chance to finally explain herself and what she had been doing.

"So that's why you were messing with the control room," said Cid. "Well, I apologize for the way I acted…"

Selphie nodded. "And sorry about the whole 'jump rope' thing…"

"Have you two made up, yet?" asked Aerith.

Cid sighed and held out his hand to Selphie. "Truce?"

Selphie took Cid's hand and they both shook hands. "Truce…"

Aerith nodded her head and looked at the rest of the children.

"All things aside, I think it's great you found each other," she said.

Yuna looked at Aerith and smiled. "Thank you…"

"Hey, Yuna," said Gabby. "Do you know where Cassie, Wakka, Lulu, and Seymour are?"

Yuna turned to Gabby and frowned as she shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't…"

"What about my parents?" Sora asked. "Or Riku and Kairi?"

Yuna shook her head again. "I'm sorry…"

Sora sighed and looked down. As much as he was glad to see that Yuna, Selphie, and Tidus had made it…he really wanted to see his parents or Riku and Kairi…

Gabby frowned as she saw how bummed Sora was.

"_And he was so happy when we met up with Tidus, Yuna, and Selphie…"_ she thought.

She blinked when she remembered the offer she and Sora had been given by the talking dog. They could go along and travel with them…if they did, maybe, just maybe…she could find Riku, Kairi, or his parents. Finding either of them would most likely make Sora smile… Nodding her head, Gabby made her way over to the duck and dog.

"You two," said Gabby. "About your offer…I want to know…"

Donald and Goofy stared at Gabby as she looked at them.

"Will we find Kairi and Riku?" she asked.

Donald nodded his head. "Of course."

Gabby smiled and looked at Sora. "Did you hear that? They said we could find Riku and Kairi if we go with them!"

Sora's head snapped up in shock, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Selphie, Tidus, and Yuna didn't know exactly what was going on, but whatever it was, it sure did bring up Sora's hopes.

Goofy looked down at Donald and leaned closer to him, giving him a suspicious look.

"Are you sure?" he whispered.

Donald rolled his eyes as he turned to Goofy, cupping one hand around his beak.

"Who knows?" he whispered back. "But we need one of them to come with us to help us find the king."

Leon uncrossed his arms and walked over to Sora, placing his hand on the spiky-haired boy's shoulder.

"Sora, go with them," said Leon. "_Especially_ if you want to find your friends since these two are your only choice."

Sora's gaze dropped onto the ground as he replied, "Yeah, I guess."

"But you can't come along looking like that!" Donald said, wagging his index finger in the air. "Understand?"

Sora looked at Donald questioningly. _"What does he mean by that?"_

"No frowning," Donald said, his expression softening as he looked at Sora. "No sad face. Okay?"

Goofy leaned toward Donald and pitched in as he said, "Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us! Ah-hyuck!"

Donald scowled and pushed Goofy away from himself. Gabby smiled at the duck and the dog. They were a funny bunch…

"This boat runs on happy faces," explained Donald.

Sora didn't bother to look up as he kept his gaze on his shoes. He sighed and echoed skeptically, "Happy?"

Everyone looked over at Sora expectantly. Donald and Goofy gave Sora their funniest faces in an attempt to cheer him up. Sora didn't move. His head was still hung sadly in silent defeat, but everyone continued to wait for a response. After a moment of expectant silence, Yuna sighed and walked over to Sora.

"Sora," she said.

Sora looked up at Yuna. "Huh?"

"I learned to practice smiling when I'm feeling sad, you know…" she said. "I know it's hard…but you have to hang in there."

Sora looked at Yuna and sighed as he looked down. "Yeah…I understand… I think."

Yuna smiled at Sora. "Right, now let's see what you can do!"

"Huh?" Sora said as he looked questioningly at Yuna.

Yuna looked expectantly at Sora. "C'mon!"

Sora stared questioningly at Yuna. She was waiting for him to smile. He looked down and sighed before looking back at Yuna, wearing biggest and strangest looking grin he could make. Yuna just stared at him, as did everyone.

Silence…

"_Maybe I might've over done it…"_ thought Sora.

Suddenly, Donald and Goofy cracked up. Tidus, Selphie, and Gabby followed after as they burst into a fit of laughter.

Goofy pointed at Sora as he managed to get out between laughs, "That's one funny face!"

Donald held his stomach as he continued to laugh. If he kept this up any longer, his stomach was going to hurt!

Yuna just smiled at Sora and ruffled his hair. "That's better."

Sora ceased his grinning and rubbed his cheek. "That was weird…"

"Next, try laughing out loud!" said Yuna.

Sora looked at Yuna. "What?"

"C'mon, show me!" Yuna urged Sora. She would not stop until she was sure Sora was okay.

Sora inhaled and exhaled before he suddenly started to laugh out loud. Everyone looked at Sora strangely, almost as he had gone mad.

"Uh, Yuna, maybe you should make him stop…" said Gabby.

Yuna waved at Gabby. "No, you keep laughing, Sora."

Sora found himself laughing even louder. Selphie giggled and Tidus found himself laughing. Gabby blinked and looked at Yuna.

"Uh, Yuna…?" she said.

"You see, Sora wasn't the only one who was feeling down…" explained Yuna. "That's why…I thought if I cheered him up, Selphie and Tidus would also feel better. You could do the same…I know how hard it must be to lose your sister."

Gabby nodded and looked at Sora, who kept laughing. Smiling, Gabby joined Sora in his bout of forced laughter. Sora found himself pausing as he realized he wasn't the only one laughing. He looked at Gabby as she inhaled. She stopped and looked at Sora, smiling at him.

Sora felt himself smile…for real, this time.

Yuna smiled at the two. "Go on, laugh!"

Sora and Gabby nodded as they laughed out loud one more time. When Sora tried to laugh again, this time he found himself actually laughing… Joining him in his laughter, was Gabby, then Tidus, Selphie, and finally, Yuna.

Yuna felt accomplished as she laughed. Not only had she cheered up her friends, but she had also managed to cheer herself up as well.

"Too funny!" she laughed. (21)

Sora looked at Yuna as he held his stomach. "It was your idea!"

After a few moments, the Destiny Islands kids calmed down from their laughter. No longer did they feel depressed, just happy, for once. Sora turned to Yuna.

"Yuna…thank you," he said.

Selphie, Tidus, and Gabby nodded in agreement. "Thank you…"

Yuna nodded. "Anytime…I'm just glad you're all okay, now."

Sora sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. He was really thankful Yuna had made it…otherwise, where would he be? Blinking, Sora turned and noticed the strange looks he received from Leon and the rest.

"What're you looking at?" he asked.

Aerith and Yuffie looked at each other before they burst into laughter. Leon managed to smile slightly as he couldn't hide his own amusement. Sora and his friends…they were too goofy for their own good…

"We were just worried you guys might've gone crazy!" said Cid. "But it seems to me that the little lady did a good job in cheering all of you guys up…and thank you…Yuna, was it?"

Yuna nodded as she looked at Cid. "I take it you're Mr. Highwind…right?"

Cid nodded. "Yeah, but just call me Cid…"

"You and my uncle have the same name…" said Yuna.

Cid blinked and looked at Sora. "Is this the same Cid who taught Al Bhed?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah…he's Yuna's uncle…you mind explaining to him what the Al Bhed are?"

Yuna nodded and smiled. "Of course…"

Gabby rubbed the back of her head as she looked at Sora. "So…are we going?"

"Sure, why not?" Sora said before turning to Donald and Goofy. "We'll go with you guys."

Donald smiled and held out his hand as he introduced himself. "Donald Duck!"

"Goofy Goof, but just call me Goofy!" Goofy said as he placed his hand on top of Donald's hand.

Sora and Gabby looked at each other and smiled as they both held out their hands and placed them on top of Donald's and Goofy's at the same time.

"I'm Sora Irino!" he said.

Gabby smiled widely. "And I'm Gabrielle Framboise! Call me Gabby, for short!"

Goofy looked at Donald, then Sora, and finally Gabby. He smiled as he happily exclaimed, "All for one and one for all!"

The four of them placed their hands closer together as they formed a circle that marked the beginning of what seemed to be a beautiful friendship.

* * *

…

…

…

Within a poorly lit room, a group of seemingly sinister people circled around a table. Their gaze was focused on the hologram within the center of the table. The hologram was of the newly acquainted group of friends, Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy. A green light stood beneath the hologram, a purple miasma slowly rising up into the air from the green light.

Anger was all that could be shown within a cold, hard glare that was aimed at the hologram of the four newly made friends.

"Those little squirts took down that Heartless!" one voice roared furiously from within the darkness. "Who'd thought it?"

"Such is the power of the Keyblade!" hissed another voice as a small, feathered bird flapped its wings to distance itself from the person who spoke. "The strength of these children are not of their own."

"Why don't we just turn them into a couple of Heartless?" suggested someone, her voice bubbling with her own cackle. "That'll certainly settle things quick enough!"

"And the brats' friends are the King's lackeys!" someone else shouted in outrage, his voice holding a distinct accent. His gaze focused right back onto the hologram, his eyes narrowing at the sight. "Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats by the look of them."

"You're no prize yourself," retorted yet another, throwing his head back as he released a round of wicked, burbled laughter.

"Shut up!" snapped the previous person, shaking his left hand at the other's face. The dim glow of the hologram reflected of the sharp, curved metal that of a hook that seemed to take the place of the person's missing left hand.

"Enough," some called from a different part of the room.

Everyone ceased their bickering as they turned to face whoever it was that called out to them. A fair, green-skinned woman walked into view, her yellow eyes shining within the darkness as the hologram's light reflected off them. Her head was topped with a black-horned headdress and her outfit consisted of a long, tattered black robe with a purple trim and maroon flare edges. She held a staff with a glowing green orb at the tip in her hand and on that same hand, she wore a golden ring with a circular black stone on her ring finger. A black raven stood on top of her shoulder, its eerie stare fixated on the group of people circling the table.

"The Keyblade has chosen them," the woman continued on, her deep voice slow and thoughtful. "Will it be they who conquer the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow them?"

The group exchanged glances with each other, soon giving their own malevolent smiles as a sinister gleam shone within their eyes. Their leader had made a point, indeed. Though the children did pose a threat to their plans, they were still nothing more than children. And besides, they also had help destroying that last Heartless. Thinking about it now, there were plenty of ways to turn someone like that to their side. The darkness was strong…chances of resistance were slim.

The woman's red lips curved into a malevolent smile as she watched the hologram whilst stroking the feathers of her pet raven. The two children were talking to their newfound friends.

"All in good time," she said. "Either way, they could be quite useful…"

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter and damn, this one was rather long! Date of Final Revamp: 10-30-11

Yet another chapter! Yayz, I'm still on a roll! :D And so we see the effects of the inclusion of Yuna, Tidus, and Selphie…yeah, I know it seemed random, but hey! It's **AU**, people! Now, time for the notes!

(1) This is our flower girl with her weapon from her original game, _Final Fantasy VII_. If some of you who have yet to check it out, Aerith is not weak whatsoever. She has something to fight with aside from Magic and despite being more suitable for a Mage, she can still hit and that's what counts. Also, I might have tweaked her outfit and given her the outfit she wore in _Final Fantasy VII_…yeah.

(2) That reference…oh, how much it actually pained me to put it in…DX Any of you who have played _Birth by Sleep_ will know that reference…

(3) Okay, before I knew about _Final Fantasy_, I first played Kingdom Hearts in most likely the Christmas of maybe 2004 or 2005…all I know, most definitely, is that I had to had owned the first game by my fifth grade year…I think that was also around the time the second one came out…well, whatever!

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that when I first saw Yuffie…I almost thought she was Kairi until I noticed that Kairi didn't have black hair…I was ten or eleven back then! DX Lay off! So I'm sticking with the whole "Yuffie looks like Kairi" even though I should say that Kairi looks like Yuffie since Yuffie came first…yeah…moving on! DX

(4) Pfft, this is an official breaking of the fourth wall. It ain't my doing…and I actually liked that Donald broke the fourth wall…it was funny…

(5) Tonberries are also known as Pugs or Dinglberries.

(6) Yeah, I'll take every chance to show off Yuffie's ninja skills…besides, Squall SO deserved that!

(7) If you haven't figured it out and such, Gabby is Sora's partner and yes, she is considered the last person Sora would ever bring on an adventure that may lead to death.

(8) I always wondered how Goofy and Donald got up there, so here's my originality coming into play! ^^

(9) And I always wondered why there were pillars blocking the way…seriously, it's almost as if Traverse Town had a lockdown or something…yeah.

(10) Yeah, had to do that sometime, ya know!

(11) Yeah, here's the thing…Yuna and Tidus are not cousins in _Final Fantasy X_…I made them cousins here and keep in mind, these two are their Destiny Islands counterpart…yeah.

(12) I hate how people think Aerith is weak, so I made Aerith more…I dunno, kickass! ^^ Seriously, she could hold her ground, otherwise her stare of doom wouldn't have worked on Leon in KH2.

(13) In _Birth by Sleep_, Huey, Dewey, and Louie have already shown signs of being mechanics of some sort. Seriously, they built the ice-cream machine you had to play the mini-game for as Ventus, and I'm pretty sure they built their own racecars for the race…so yeah, I decided to involve them in this way. For me, I think it fits them as it looks like something they would do.

(14) And here's where whole "Cid" thing comes into play…yeah…whatever.

(15) This is what happens when you give a hardcore Disney fan that grew up to the old Disney cartoons a shot at originality and using AU capabilities…this randomness. That's how Disney used to work, back then, sometimes! XD Loved that…plus, look at Disney Town in _Birth by Sleep_! Since I made Huey, Dewey, and Louie responsible for designing the whole defense mechanism, you can see that their world had an influence on their work…

(16) Reference to the game Cid, Aerith, and Yuffie came from, which is _Final Fantasy VII_. Yeah…what? The slots were also used in certain Limit Breaks as well…Tifa had her attacks strengthened by whatever the slots landed in and Cait Sith…well, his Limit Breaks all revolve around slots.

(17) Oh, c'mon, that has to be something Selphie would so do…then again, I haven't played _VIII_ much and I have only grasped Selphie's character through means of my own characterization. DX I need to watch a _VIII_ walkthrough!

(18) And that pretty much explains as to where Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid were at in all this mess. I mean, seriously, where did Leon go? Fricken' jerk left us to fight off the Guard Armor with nothing but a talking duck and dog to help us out…

(19) In _Final Fantasy X_, Tidus taught Yuna how to whistle and told her to whistle for him if she was lost and that he would come find her…the same went for Yuna who told the same to Tidus…yeah…

(20) Oh, this? Let's see…uh, in _Final Fantasy X_, Tidus's father, Jecht, has been known to be verbally abusive to Tidus, giving him the nickname "crybaby". Before you make any assumptions, Jecht is actually a good man at heart. He criticizes Tidus frequently, but does so in the hope of encouraging Tidus to try harder and disprove him…pretty much, this is what my fourth grade through eighth grade band teacher did to us to make us play better.

Man, I miss those times with her…she was mean, but hey! Once you got used to it, she was actually okay. Now I'm in high school and I'm STILL in band…hmm…4th-11th …almost seven years, now! :D

(21) This scene…this scene…it is a HUGE reference to _Final Fantasy X_…a moment I encountered in the afternoon of 3-12-11…you know the moment where Auron joins your team, the one where Yuna tries to cheer up Tidus after the events in Luca? That one…it was awkward at first, but then I started laughing at how Yuna and Tidus seemed to be crazy because they were laughing out loud! XD Yeah… This whole scene is pretty much an inclusion of that part…I really need to finish playing _X_…

And that's it for this chapter! I went all out in this one…and so the misadventures begin! :D

NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is always welcomed cuz I need tips and such, reviews just make my day! :D

Wait patiently for the next chapter! Till next time, KD out! XD


	7. Entering the Wonder

After the whole scenario in the Third District, followed by the reunion Sora and Gabby had with their friends, and the events that followed after, everyone was now in the First District…well, everyone, save for Cid, Yuna, Tidus, and Selphie. Cid had escorted Yuna, Tidus, and Selphie to his shop.

"Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you two," Leon said sternly, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at Sora and Gabby.

Aerith and Yuffie stood by Leon's side as the three of them stood in front of Sora and Gabby. The three were currently making sure that Sora and Gabby were prepared before they left with Donald and Goofy.

"We don't know how far the Heartless have spread," Leon added. "So it's best you stock up on items and such…"

"Um…I don't think we have to worry about items…" Gabby said as she rubbed the back of her head. "I collected a lot of items off the Heartless Sora killed!"

"So that's what you were doing when you left me with all the work!" exclaimed Sora. "So…how many items did you find?"

"I got around twenty-five potions, twenty ethers, and almost ten elixirs!" said Gabby. "…The elixirs are _mine_!"

Sora stared strangely at Gabby. "Wasn't asking for any…"

Gabby nodded as she crossed her arms. "Well, now you know not to ask…I'll use them when I see fit."

Leon sighed. "Okay, items aside…you might wanna get some Panaceas."

"We still have the ones Cid gave us," replied Sora.

"What about accessories?" asked Yuffie. "I mean, items are great, but accessories are what keep you from taking too hard of a hit."

Sora held up his index finger. "Yeah, about that…any of you guys have a Protect Chain or anything? I kinda wanna ditch the Chaos Anklet I'm wearing…"

"Oh, right!" Yuffie said, turning to Leon. "I almost forgot about your Protega Chain! Here ya go!"

Sora stared wide-eyed at Yuffie as she handed Leon a silver chain. Leon noticed Sora's look and sighed as he unchained a silver chain around his wrist. He held out the chain to Sora.

"Here, you can have my Protera Chain," said Leon. "It's not as much as a Protega Chain, but it's better than nothing…"

Sora smiled and took the chain out of Leon's hand. "Thanks! Hey, Gabby…you want my Chaos Anklet?"

Gabby blinked a few times and sighed. "Hand it over…"

One item exchange later,

Leon had his new Protega Chain, Sora was happy with his Protera Chain, and Gabby found herself the owner of two Chaos Anklets…that's one more than she previously had!

"Aerith, the bag?" said Leon.

Aerith smiled and nodded as she took out a small bag from her bolero jacket's breast pocket. She held it out to Gabby as she said, "This is from all of us."

Gabby took the bag and peered inside. The bag was filled with small golden orbs, ranging in size, each of them labeled with numbers that ranged from one to twenty. It was the Munny Aerith had picked up after Cid's jackpot…well, some of it.

"Spend it as you see fit," said Aerith. "And oh…how rude of me…I haven't introduced myself yet, well…my name is Aerith Gainsborough… It's a pleasure to be of your acquaintance!"

Aerith smiled at Sora and Gabby, earning a smile back from them. She was really a nice young lady…

* * *

Meanwhile in Cid's Accessory shop,

"Hey, why aren't Sora and Gabby with us?" asked Tidus.

Cid blinked as he looked at Tidus. "Well, they're going off."

"Where?" asked Selphie.

Cid sighed as he placed a new toothpick in his mouth. "With Donald and Goofy…they're going off to other worlds, in search of the rest of your friends."

Selphie and Tidus stared wide-eyed at Cid. "WHAT?"

"What about us?" asked Selphie.

Tidus nodded. "Yeah, why can't we go along?"

"Because you guys have to stay here, in Traverse Town," Cid replied in a matter-of-factly.

Tidus and Selphie frowned. "Aww…"

Yuna looked at Tidus and Selphie. She had been wondering the exact same thing as her cousin, however, she knew that Donald and Goofy had asked Sora and Gabby to come along, not them…for whatever reason, she didn't know, but she knew it was best not to get involved. It was between Sora and Gabby…not them.

"Tidus…Selphie…" said Yuna.

Tidus and Selphie turned to Yuna. "Huh?"

"Our place…it's in Traverse Town," said Yuna. "We have to stay here."

Selphie tightened her fists as she frowned at Yuna. "But why?"

"Don't you want to look for our friends, too?" asked Tidus.

Yuna nodded. "Yeah, I do…but what if our friends aren't in other worlds? Maybe they're coming here to this one…just like we did. Who knows? Maybe they're here already, but they're lost…"

Tidus looked down. "Oh…"

Selphie sighed and crossed her arms. "Well, when you put it that way…then, what do you suppose we do, here, in Traverse Town? We can't always look around for our friends…we have to do something, too!"

Cid blinked and grinned. "Ya know, I'm glad you asked that!"

Tidus, Selphie, and Yuna turned to Cid.

"Lately, we've been having trouble keeping the First District Heartless-free," explained Cid.

Yuna arched her brow at Cid. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying if you're willing to take up my offer," said Cid. "Want to join the Heartless Extermination Committee? I already know for a fact that you can defend yourselves…I mean, I've seen what Selphie could do with her jump rope."

Selphie laughed awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry about that!"

"Anyways, are you up for it?" asked Cid.

Yuna blinked and looked at Tidus and Selphie, both whom were looking at the Summoner expectantly. Sighing, Yuna shook her head and smiled as she looked at Cid.

"We are…" she said.

Cid grinned. "Great! So it's settled! You three are now part of the Heartless Extermination Committee!"

Selphie and Tidus immediately latched onto Yuna as they repeatedly thanked her. Even if they weren't going to other worlds, like Sora and Gabby…at least they were doing something while searching for their friends, here in Traverse Town.

"Oh, Cid…about Sora and Gabby," said Yuna.

Cid blinked and took out his toothpick from his mouth. "If you're looking for them, they're probably boarding their ship. If I were you, I'd get to them just before the leave…the world's exit is through the door just straight ahead from this shop. You can't miss it!"

Yuna nodded and turned. "C'mon, you two…we gotta go!"

Selphie and Tidus nodded as they followed after Yuna. (1)

…

* * *

Sora and Gabby stared at the sight before them in awe. It was the Gummi Ship, as Donald and Goofy had called it. This was the vessel that they were going to use to get to other worlds…and it was huge!

It was colored a glossy red, with a yellow stripe going all the way around the nose of the ship. It had large white wings on either side with smaller ones that probably served as rudders placed above it. A small set of cannons was stuck to the bottom of the ship, though what that could be for, Sora and Gabby didn't know. They could see straight into the cockpit, as it was covered by a large glass dome.

"Well?" Sora could hear Goofy say from behind him. "Whaddaya think?"

Sora could hardly help but smile at the sight of the ship. "It's _awesome_!"

Donald stood next to Goofy and grinned, pride swelling up within him. Aerith, Leon, and Yuffie walked up to Donald and Goofy. They were here to see the group set off, but it seemed that Sora was sidetracked by how amazing the Gummi Ship was to him. Gabby, on the other hand, wasn't as sidetracked as Sora…she just wanted to see what was inside.

"C'mon, Sora!" she said. "We gotta go!"

Sora blinked and looked at Gabby. "Huh?"

"You ain't seen nothin' yet!" Donald said eagerly as he grabbed Sora's arm.

"Yeah," Goofy added as he moved toward the ship. "If ya like the outside of it, wait 'til ya see the inside!"

Sora blinked as Donald dragged him along towards the ship, with Goofy and Gabby following after.

"See ya!" Gabby exclaimed as she waved at Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie.

Sora looked over his shoulder. "Take care of Yuna, Tidus, and Selphie! Otherwise, we'll be having words…very serious words."

Leon nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Take care…and keep your spirits up."

Aerith smiled as she clasped her hands over her chest. "I hope you find your friends!"

"Good luck!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Wait up!" called out a voice.

Sora blinked as he watched Selphie, Tidus, and Yuna run up into view as he was pulled into the Gummi Ship by Donald. The three waved at him and Gabby as neared the entrance of the Gummi Ship.

"Goodbye!" exclaimed Selphie.

Tidus cupped his hands around his mouth as he yelled, "Hope you come back soon!"

Yuna smiled at Sora and Gabby as she waved at them. "Take care…and please, if you can, find Riku and Kairi!"

"We will!" Sora called out.

"We promise!" Gabby added.

With that said, the two disappeared into the Gummi Ship.

…

* * *

…

Sora and Gabby looked around; their mouths wide open in awe. The inside of the Gummi Ship was definitely bigger than it was outside! There were three mechanical white-gloved hands attached to the ceiling that were moving everywhere.

Giant tanks, engines, and gauges of various unknown materials were lined up on two of the walls. The entire room hummed with the sound of the engines revving up. There was a small cupboard on one side near the doorway, and whatever walls were available had at least two pictures, posters, or signs.

The far side of the room that the two teens were facing seemed to split into numerous parts. One part of the room was filled with oddly small, various furniture consisting of couches, tables, and two twin beds. Another had the exact same thing, only they were a tad bit bigger and seemed more suitable for use to Donald and Goofy. A third part seemed to be more of a lounge room of some sort as it held a couple of long, couches, suitable for napping. A fourth part was the infirmary (judging by the red-colored cross on the sign above the doorway)…something told Sora that he and Gabby would be visiting that room multiple times.

"We'll set up a couple of beds for ya later!" said Goofy.

Sora and Gabby didn't really care about that as they continued to look over the place. Sora ran toward the nearest tank and examined it excitedly. He looked at it, behind it, and under it before running toward a different one and doing the same. He couldn't quite get over the fact that he was in a ship like this. It was surreal! Sora continued to dash around the room, examining everything, touching everything, until Goofy began to get dizzy from watching him.

Gabby blinked and just watched Sora, slightly amused that it wasn't her doing all the touching.

"This is totally awesome!" Sora exclaimed as he spun on his heel, running towards the next cool thing he could lay his gloved hands on.

Suddenly, something small and fast flew into Sora's face, smacking the underside of his chin rather hard. Sora's face slammed into the wall in the process after getting hit under the chin. Sora's eyes began to water as his nose started to bleed, no doubt from the impact his face had with the wall. Gabby looked at Sora and sighed as she took out a potion from her pocket. She tossed it to Sora, who caught it as he held his nose, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Thanks, Gabby," Sora managed to say, his voice somewhat nasally.

Gabby smiled and just replied, "No problem! I mean, gotta use those potions for something, ya know!"

Otherwise, she'd have a large collection of healing items…which actually didn't sound like a bad thing.

"You mind, kid?" exclaimed a high-pitched voice. "Don't cha be touchin' this and that like you own the place!"

Sora and Gabby blinked and looked around for the source of the voice, wondering who it was.

"Down here!" voice called out. "Below you!"

Sora and Gabby looked down at their feet. Standing by their feet below them, were a pair of nearly identical chipmunks. They wore similar outfits with inverted colors and had distinct physical differences.

The black-nosed chipmunk that was currently glaring at Sora, held a mop in his hand. The chipmunk tapped his foot on the floor at a quick pace, obviously angry at Sora. The other chipmunk, a red-nosed one, was not as angry as the black-nosed chipmunk, but he was rather tired as he continued to wipe the floor with a small rag.

"All day I slave away gettin' this vessel spotless and ship-shape, and whaddaya do?" the black-nosed chipmunk exclaimed. "You trash the place the first chance you get!"

"Don't make a mess, okay?" said the red-nosed chipmunk. (2)

Gabby diverted her eyes on Sora, earning a rather awkward expression from him. She sighed and knelt down as she lowered her hands onto the ground. The two chipmunks looked at Gabby questioningly and shrugged as they dropped whatever they had in their hands as they scampered onto Gabby's hands. Gabby smiled as she stood up, her gaze fixated on the two chipmunks on her hands. They were adorable…

Donald walked towards them, stopping when he stood in front of Gabby and Sora. He cleared his throat and placed his hands on his hips (?) as he said, "Those are Chip n' Dale."

The black-nosed chipmunk immediately turned to Donald as he snapped, "Hey! Don't call us 'those'!"

Donald ignored him as he continued on, "They're the mechanics of the Gummi Ship."

The red-nosed chipmunk looked at Sora and Gabby and smiled as he waved at them.

"Nice to meetcha!" he said. "I'm Dale!"

So that made black-nosed, Chip…okay, that settled the question on who was who. Gabby knelt down and set Chip and Dale back onto the floor.

"Thank you!" said Chip.

Gabby smiled and nodded at Chip. "No problem!"

Donald made his way over towards a ladder. A sign was taped onto the wall by the ladder, reading "Cockpit" with an arrow drawn pointing up at the hatch at the top of the ladder. Sora was about to follow Donald, but Chip stopped him.

"Shoes off!" exclaimed Chip. "I just finished mopping! I don't want you kids dirtying the cockpit!"

Sora blinked a few times and shrugged. After a few moments, Sora looked at Goofy questioningly as he held onto his yellow shoes.

"Um…where do we put 'em?" he asked.

Goofy looked thoughtful for a moment and then grinned as he led the way to a small shoe locker.

"We put 'em here in this shoe locker!" said Goofy. As if to prove his point, Goofy placed his shoes in one of the empty shelves.

Gabby kicked off her shoes and handed them to Sora before making her way up the ladder. Sora stared at his friend's shoes and sighed.

"_Left behind," _he thought as he set his shoes as well as Gabby's in two separate shelves.

Sora blinked as he just noticed a small figure standing right in front of him on the empty shelf just across his face. The figure dressed in a formal suit with a long cape and a hat with a feather. The figure waved at him as he tried to catch Sora's attention. It looked like a cricket…

"Welcome!" said the cricket. "I'm Jiminy Cricket, captain of this ship!"

Sora arched his brow at the cricket named Jiminy and tentatively picked him up by the back of his cape.

"Captain of this ship?" questioned Sora.

Jiminy laughed and threw of his hat. "Nah, I'm just joshing you! I'm really just the Royal Chronicler! So…you're Sora?"

Sora nodded as he watched Jiminy take out a small journal and pen. Jiminy began to jot down a few things as Sora stared at him. Shaking his head, Sora placed Jiminy on his shoulder and began to make his way up the ladder to join up with the rest.

…

The whole cockpit was encased in glass from the ceiling and around to a certain extent. Through the ceiling, Sora could see many of the bright stars in the dark sky…

"_What a breath-taking view…"_ thought Sora.

There were three chairs lined up in front, the two on the outside set further backward than one.

Donald was seated in that front chair, currently examining all the switches, gauges, buttons and monitors that were spread across the control board at the front. Goofy was sitting in the chair on the right, and Gabby was sitting in the chair across from Goofy.

Sora blinked. "Wait a second…three seats?"

Donald looked over his shoulder. "We were only expecting one of you, not two."

Sora blinked again and nodded. "Oh, that's right…"

"In the meantime, share," said Donald.

Sora sighed and made his way over to Gabby. "Move over…"

Gabby moved aside, making room for Sora as he sat down next to her. It was sort of cramped, but not enough to cause discomfort for either of them.

"Sora, there's a bug on you…" said Gabby.

Sora blinked and diverted his eyes on his shoulder. "Oh, him…that's just Jiminy. He's the Royal Chronicler."

Gabby blinked as she stared at Jiminy, who took off his top hat as he bowed respectfully at the brunette.

"A pleasure to be of your acquaintance!" said Jiminy. "I'll be documenting your journey! Sora…you don't mind me taking residence in your hood, do you?"

Sora shook his head as Jiminy placed his top hat back on. Jiminy smiled and hopped right back into Sora's hood where he then began to write down a few more notes into a small journal of his.

"Is everyone buckled in?" Donald asked, looking over his shoulder as he looked at Sora and Gabby and then Goofy.

Goofy blinked and quickly fastened his seatbelt, chuckling as he thanked Donald for the reminder. Donald sighed and turned his gaze back to the window, looking out through the great beyond that was space. This was going to be a bit of a bumpy ride as Donald was still trying to get the hang of being driver. It was trial and error!

Donald had already gotten the basics down, it's just…he still had some problems. Other than that, he was okay! Now to blast off…

* * *

Meanwhile with the Gummi engineers,

Chip and Dale were quickly looking over the engines, making sure everything would go well once the Gummi Ship took off.

"Engines at full throttle!" exclaimed Chip.

Dale nodded as with a quick salute, he scampered over to his position.

"Aye-aye, Chip!" said Dale.

* * *

Back in the cockpit,

Donald leaned forward and gripped one end of the steering wheel with his left hand as he held out his right hand, pointing his index finger out at what laid ahead of them as he exclaimed, "Go, Gummi!"

The take off was so sudden that Sora and Gabby had no time to react aside from exclaiming, "Uwah!"

At the current moment, the two were pressed back against the cushion of their seat by the sheer force of the movement of take off. The sound of the engines roaring began to ring in their ears with a rather unpleasant feeling. The change of pressure took a while to get used to…a little longer than Sora would have liked as the pressure soon lifted off him. He practically popped out from within the seat cushion, unlike Gabby, who was still pressed back against it.

Sora groaned as he clutched his stomach, slowly leaning backwards into his seat as low as he could go. The seatbelt caught him before he fell out of the chair, fortunately for Jiminy as he was still in Sora's hood.

Sora felt nauseous at the current moment…most likely from being airsick…hey! That's something new he learned about himself now! He got airsick…oh, joy!

"Gah, feels like I left my guts back there," he groaned.

"Aw, you'll get used to it," Goofy said sympathetically, chuckling slightly.

"_Ugh…I wonder how Gabby's doing,"_ Sora thought as he diverted his eyes on Gabby.

Sora's eyes widened as his airsickness seemed to have subsided slightly at the mere sight of Gabby. Gabby did not seem to well at all…in fact, she seemed like she could heave at any…oh crap! No way! Not on him!

Sora immediately unbuckled the seatbelt and quickly distanced himself from Gabby. His back pressed against the wall on the right side of the doorway as he stared at Gabby from a distance.

"Um, Donald…do you happen to know where the restroom is?" Sora asked as he watched Gabby fall onto the ground seconds after she got out of her seat.

"Down the hall to your left," said Donald.

Sora nodded and gave Donald a quick "thanks" as he ran towards Gabby and help her up. The second he had managed to get Gabby standing, Sora began to drag her with him as he ran out of the cockpit into the left side of the hallway.

Moments later,

Sora sighed as he held back Gabby's hair as Gabby began to heave out whatever contents she had in her stomach into the white toilet bowl. Yes, this was _exactly_ how Sora had seen himself doing on a journey like this…note the sarcasm. And Blondie and Lady wondered why he didn't want Gabby as his partner…

"_Where have I gone wrong?"_ he thought.

Ten minutes later,

Sora walked back into the cockpit with a slightly disheveled and pale Gabby by his side. Donald took no notice of the two and neither did Goofy…until he looked up from reading a comic book he had in his hands. Goofy smiled and waved at the two, making Sora feel slightly better about his outlook on this ship as did Gabby, who felt better than she was before and after she threw up.

Sora sighed and plopped into his seat, moving to the side as Gabby sat down.

"Sora, right?" said a voice.

Sora opened one eye and looked to his right, spotting a small figure seating itself on his chair's armrest. It was Jiminy, who was currently waving his hat around to catch Sora's attention.

"_When did Jiminy pop out of my hoodie?"_ Sora thought as he blinked and opened both his eyes.

Jiminy smiled and placed his hat right back to its place on his head.

"As the Royal Chronicler of this journey," Jiminy said as he pulled out a small journal and a pen. "I think it would only be right for me to ask you for _your_ side of the story."

"What about me?" Gabby asked as she diverted her eyes on the two.

Jiminy nodded as he added, "This includes you, as well."

Sora closed his eyes and sighed as he replied, "Well, that's a long story…"

Gabby nodded. "No kidding…"

Jiminy laughed as he opened his journal.

"Just in a nutshell, if you will," said Jiminy.

Gabby sighed and said, "Well, you asked for it."

And so began the long telling of the past important events that had happened to Sora and Gabby.

Ten minutes later,

"So you're saying that it all began with weird dreams?" asked Jiminy.

Sora crossed his arms and nodded. "They were the weirdest I ever had! I dodged fireballs and fled from hellhounds in them…"

"That sounds bad…" remarked Gabby.

"It was…" Sora strained through his teeth.

Jiminy nodded and looked over at Gabby. "And that ring you have on your finger…it's from your fiancé who proposed to you at school on the same day you lost your world.

Gabby clenched her teeth as she let out an aggravated sigh. "Please…don't bring it up anymore…"

"She's still hurting from her loss," explained Sora.

Gabby scowled at Sora as she held up her fist. "I just don't like the whole thing about my engagement being brought up! Seriously…"

Sora held up his arms in his defense. "My bad…"

Jiminy didn't hesitate to jot down any of this conversation as it seemed to interesting to pass up.

"_Queen Minnie's going to certainly love this,"_ thought Jiminy. "Though, aren't you a little too young to be engaged?"

Sora looked at Gabby, who sighed and shook her head.

"You can tell him…" she said.

Five minutes later,

"So she's set until she graduates…" Jiminy said, continuing to write down every little detail.

Sora and Gabby…they definitely came from an interesting world.

"Well, that's assuming she says yes on decision day," replied Sora. "And…that's as much as I can tell you…sorry."

"That's okay," said Jiminy. "I think that's about enough for that part, let's move on…"

Ten minutes later,

"Hold on a minute," said Jiminy. "Gabrielle—"

Gabby blinked and held up her index finger. "Um, it's Gabby…if you will."

Jiminy blinked and nodded as he corrected himself. "Gabby…you're not from where Sora is?"

Gabby rubbed the back of her head as she started to delve into some of the oldest memories in her head about that topic. Sora sighed and decided to help out his friend a bit.

"She's not," said Sora. "A few years back…almost nine years ago, me and Riku found her on the island…well, we found her sister, Kairi, first. My dad was the one who found her."

Jiminy arched his brow. _"Nine years? Isn't that when…?"_

Jiminy shook his head and looked back at the two. He was listening closely to what they had to say.

"I always did find it strange that she and Kairi appeared on the islands after the night of a meteor shower," said Sora. "Anyways, if it wasn't for her and her sister, Riku and I would've never thought about building the raft…hell! I'd say we should've taken the boats instead of even taking the raft if we hadn't gone so far in making it!"

Jiminy nodded as he continued to write down everything into his journal. Afterwards, he looked at Gabby.

"Do you remember where you lived before?" asked Jiminy.

Gabby blinked and looked down. "No…nothing at all… It's all fuzzy and the only thing I _know_ I remember is Chocobos—"

"Creatures which have still yet to be proven to exist," interrupted Sora.

Gabby ignored Sora and continued on…after bonking him upside the head, of course! No one messes with her obsession with Chocobos! Sora rubbed his head as he stared at Gabby.

"Anyways, that's all," said Gabby. "Though, according to Kairi, that's more than she can remember, which, compared to my memory, hers is nothing but just blank, blank, blank…"

"So you're an amnesiac?" Jiminy asked as he continued to write in his journal. "You remember nothing of your past life, just your current one…right?"

Gabby nodded and sighed. "I've been trying my hardest to remember anything from my past…all I seemed to get is pain from just even trying to recall my past life."

She still wasn't too keen on telling Sora that she was slowly remembering about her past, one memory at a time. She didn't like lying much, but it had to do, for now…

"Wait, you've tried?" Sora asked as he inched closer to Gabby.

Gabby nodded again and said, "Yeah…but like I said, all I can remember are Chocobos…Kairi forgot all about them, now."

Sora blinked. "That's right…she gave up on trying to remember."

"She's more content with her current life," Gabby sighed. "She's afraid of remembering because she might remember something horrible…"

"I see…" said Sora.

Sometime later,

"And that's our life in a nutshell," said Sora. "There…"

Gabby nodded and stretched out her arms as she felt slightly tired, though bored. How long had she and Sora been talking to Jiminy? It felt like therapy…assuming they still remembered the sessions they had after their first slightly traumatic experience with Ifrit at a young age…an experience that most of the kids around their age (specifically, their class) also went through due to Ifrit's fireball almost killing them had it not been for a White Mage casting a fire nullification spell. Man, did the therapist make money off of _that_ incident…

Sora looked at Jiminy and noticed that he was currently doing something else, having just finished writing down the last of the conversation he had with Sora and Gabby. Sora arched his brow and asked, "Whatcha doing?"

"Just trying to see if I can draw a quick sketch of your friend's sister," said Jiminy. "The Queen also needs to know how you fellows look like when she gets to reading about the journey…it's to avoid confusion. So, Kairi looks exactly like Gabby…right?"

"Well, not exactly," said Sora. "Kairi has short, dark red hair and her eyes have a bit of a violet tinge and aside from that, she and Gabby look exactly the same."

Jiminy nodded as he continued to sketch a picture of Kairi as Sora began to describe what the red-haired girl wore. The boy was rather descriptive about the girl…Jiminy smiled as he got a feeling Sora had a crush on Kairi. (3)

After a few minutes, Goofy looked back at Sora and Gabby with a big smile on his face.

"Sora!" he called out. "Gabby! Take a look out yer window!"

Sora and Gabby blinked as curiosity began to get the better of them. Sora spun in his seat to look out the window, taking no notice as Gabby climbed onto his back to get a better look. The view wasn't like anything they've seen before in their lives! Clusters of stars twinkled brightly with wisps of colors behind them stood out distinctly in the darkness of space.

"Freaking beautiful…" Sora breathed.

Gabby's eyes sparkled with awe as she stared through the window. "Uwah…"

"I wish Riku and Kairi were here…" Sora said as he stared through the window in a similar manner as Gabby.

"Yeah…" she agreed.

Donald smiled to himself and glanced back at the two. "We're here!"

Sora and Gabby diverted their eyes on Donald as they both said, "Already?"

An ecstatic grin formed on Sora's lips as he quickly hopped out of his seat and tightened his fists as he exclaimed, "I'm so excited!"

Gabby got out of her seat and walked over to Donald.

"So…what's this world called?" Gabby asked as she took a look at the world the Gummi Ship was nearing.

Gabby could see an unusual looking castle with hedges shaped into a heart shaped arch. More hedges appeared and formed what seemed to be a maze, spreading out all the way around one half of the world. As Gabby looked on, it seemed like that part of the world was inaccessible.

The other half, which is where they were landing, was simple grassland with a plentiful meadow full of flowers. Rolling green grassland and a dirt path that zigzagged across it, on top of which the Gummi ship landed.

"I'll tell you when we get there," Donald said as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

Gabby bit her lip as she held in the urge to shout in excitement. This was just too cool!

Goofy hopped out of his seat moments after unfastening his seatbelt and looked at Sora and Gabby. He waved at them as he exclaimed, "C'mon! Over here!"

…

After putting on their shoes, Sora and Gabby followed Goofy as he led them to the airlock. Sora was about to push open the hatch when Donald spoke up.

"Hold on!" exclaimed Donald. "Don't just jump the airlock!"

Sora stopped midway in opening the airlock as he looked at Donald. Donald walked over to Sora and pushed him aside as the Court Magician peered out the airlock carefully. Donald looked left to right a few times, nodding before he stepped out. Goofy soon followed after as Donald spoke.

"Gotta look both ways before exiting!" said Donald.

"Gotta be careful!" added Goofy.

Donald nodded as he replied, "That's right!"

Both Donald and Goofy were unaware of the distance between them and the ground as they were a good amount of feet in the air. Sora and Gabby stared at them agape as the two stood in midair, completely oblivious to the fact that they stood on nothing…

"Uh, guys!" said Sora. "Look down!"

Donald opened his eyes and looked back at Sora questioningly.

"Down?" he repeated.

Slowly, Donald looked down and as if by coincidence (or irony…either works, so take your pick); gravity finally took effect and dragged Donald and Goofy down. Goofy quickly grabbed onto Sora's hand as he used his other hand to grab onto Donald's hand. Gabby grabbed onto Sora as she began helping him try and pull Donald and Goofy up, but to no avail as they were soon all sent hurtling onto the ground.

THUD!

Donald and Goofy groaned as the combined weight of Sora and Gabby landing on their back as well as their own landing onto the ground was a rather painful experience. Sora just groaned as, once again, Gabby had landed on his back… As for Gabby…she was the one who experienced no pain at all as she had Sora, Donald, and Goofy cushioning her fall. Gabby blinked a few times and looked sheepishly at the guys she sat on.

"Uh…are you okay?" she asked.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy groaned simultaneously in response. (4)

A few moments later,

After recovering from that fall, Donald began to look around at their surroundings. Sora looked around, taking note of how peaceful everything looked. The sky was a perfect shade of azure blue with the right amount of clouds to make the bright, warm sun not too bothersome. There was a field full of lush, green grass with a small meadow full of flowers…daisies, to be precise. A babbling brook added to the tranquility of the landscape as did the twittering birds in the many trees that speckled the area.

This scene bored Sora to no extent as he was expecting something more exciting. Just as he was about to voice his boredom, something caught his eyes as rustling sound came from a couple of bushes.

"Guys!" said Sora. "Don't move! There's something in the bushes…"

Donald, Goofy, and Gabby diverted their attention on Sora as he directed them to the rustling bushes. The quartet stared at the bushes for a full minute before a sudden white-furred figure just popped out of the bushes. Sora stared at the figure long and hard, managing to get a distinct appearance from it.

"It's…it's a rabbit!" Sora exclaimed.

It was a rabbit…a white one, to be precise. The rabbit was obviously bipedal as it ran on its hind legs. He wore a yellow shirt with a button and a dark red bowtie with a red overcoat, gray pants, and spectacles. He held an umbrella in his hand-like paw and large, golden pocket watch in the other. Every few seconds or so, the rabbit would look at his watch as he ran, which seemed to cause him further distress.

Donald took a good look at the rabbit and waved it off as he said, "Aw, it's just rabbit in a waistcoat, nothing to worry about—and a watch?"

The rabbit looked at his watch again, his eyes widening as he exclaimed, "Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"

Goofy tilted his head to the side. "What could a rabbit be late for?"

Gabby shrugged and blinked as she realized the rabbit was getting away. "Hey you, wait!"

Gabby began to run after the rabbit, which got Sora following after her and then Goofy did, too, and finally Donald trailed after them, having been left behind. A small chase began as the rabbit didn't stop when Gabby called after him. All he did was quicken his pace as he began to hop over some stones in the brook to make it over the other side of the stream. Once he made it over, he looked at his watch again.

"_I'm late!"_ he exclaimed. _"I'm late! For a very important date!"_

The rabbit quickly slid to a stop and turned around to wave at Gabby.

"_No time to say hello, goodbye!"_ he exclaimed, turning around again as he continued to run once more. _"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"_

Gabby arched her brow. "Is he singing?"

Sora blinked. "I think he is…what the heck?"

Donald pointed at the white rabbit. "Follow that rabbit!"

Goofy looked at Donald questioningly. "Gawrsh, shouldn't we, um…think this over?"

Donald shook his head and exclaimed, "NO! He might be our lead to the King!"

Sora didn't really understand the current situation as all he knew was that they were chasing after a rabbit…but as long as it kept him from being bored, he was actually okay with it!

"Hey, Mr. Rabbit!" yelled Gabby. "Wait up!"

The rabbit shook his head and held up his pocket watch for Gabby to see. He was obviously anxious about the time.

"_No no no no no no no, I'm overdue!"_ he exclaimed as he made his way into a rabbit hole on the side of a small hill. _"I'm really in a stew!"_

The rabbit quickly ran out of the rabbit hole to wave at Gabby again as he said, _"No time to say 'goodbye'! __Hello__! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!"_

With that last "I'm late", the rabbit quickly jumped back into the rabbit hole. After a few moments, Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy soon stood around the rabbit hole. Everyone stared at each other questioningly, wondering what that whole ordeal was all about. Sora and Gabby got onto their knees to get a better look of the rabbit hole.

"Maybe he's late for a party!" Gabby suggested, shrugging afterwards.

Goofy got down onto his knees and looked into the rabbit hole. He couldn't see farther than a few feet in as the rest was completely engulfed in darkness. He cupped his hands around his mouth as he yelled out, "Hey, Mr. Rabbit!"

The sound of Goofy's voice echoed back to them. Goofy looked at Sora and Gabby, chuckling as he said, "That's a pretty strange place to be havin' a party, huh?"

Donald tapped his foot impatiently on the ground as he crossed his arms. He was annoyed at the current moment… There wasn't much left to do and the rabbit was their only lead! What now?

"WHOA!" exclaimed Goofy.

Donald quickly turned to Goofy and exclaimed as he ran over to the Captain of the Royal Knights. Goofy had just been looking into the rabbit hole when the ground under him suddenly gave away. There was nothing beneath him, so Goofy was almost pulled down…almost, had it not been for Donald pulling him back.

Donald struggled to keep his friend from falling down the rabbit hole. It was rather hard, given his size and weight compared to Goofy's… Donald's feet began to slowly skid forward as he was pulled into the rabbit hole. Sora grabbed onto Donald before the duck completely fell into the rabbit hole entirely. Gabby grabbed onto Sora's waist and began to help Sora pull up Donald and Goofy.

Going unnoticed, was a purple and pink striped cat that lied on its stomach on a branch in a tree near the quartet. He stared at the group curiously, Sora and Gabby being the main objects of his interest. He knew something about them that they didn't know as they haven't told him yet. Grinning widely, the cat snapped his fingers and disappeared into thin air, his smile staying behind for only a few minutes, though.

Immediately, a sudden strong force pulled Donald and Goofy down, causing Sora and Gabby to fall down with them. The four of them all screamed in terror as they fell into the dark abyss.

"AAAHHH!" yelled Sora and Gabby.

"WAAAAAK!" screamed Donald.

"Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" hollered Goofy.

Sora had long released his hold on Donald moments after falling down the rabbit hole. Gabby, however, kept her grip on Sora.

_Snap!_

The two looked down below them after hearing a snap, their eyes widening when they saw a looking glass appear out of what seemed to be nowhere…and they seemed to be heading straight towards it!

"AAAAHHH!" they both screamed.

The two let go of each other's hands and braced themselves as they closed their eyes and waited for the impact with the mirror to follow through…however, nothing came as they went _through_ the looking glass. Donald and Goofy called out to them as they watched the two Keyblade wielders disappear right before their eyes. Something very strange was going on, but at the current moment, there was nothing Donald and Goofy could do about it.

All they could do is continue to fall down the rabbit hole… (5)

* * *

…

Gabby had her arms crossed over her face, her eyes still closed until a bright light managed to penetrate her closed eyes. She opened her eyes and stared agape at the light that glowed around her left wrist and her clothes and legs. The light seemed to have a blue tinged with a liquid-like texture as drops began to slowly float up into the air as Gabby continued to fall down. Her eyes widened as she noticed the light began to morph the structure of her clothing.

"Wha?" she exclaimed.

Sora opened his eyes, having heard Gabby and looked down, gasping when he saw that Donald and Goofy were missing.

"Donald!" he called out. "Goofy!"

Sora looked up at Gabby wondered why she seemed so shocked. Sure, she was glowing, but it didn't seem to be that much of harm…

"Sora!" said Gabby. "Something weird is going on! Look! You're glowing, too!"

Sora blinked and looked at himself, his eyes widening when he saw that Gabby was indeed right. His body was glowing with the same light Gabby had around her body. It, too, was morphing the structure of his clothing as well as a bit of his body, but the latter, he had yet to notice. Soon the speed of which they were falling seemed to have slowed down.

As they drifted downwards ever so slowly, Gabby blinked when she spotted what seemed to be a dimmed lamp. She moved her hand over to it and turned the small knob on the side. Light immediately filled the rabbit hole, revealing many pictures, shelves and furniture on the wall, some of it just hanging in midair.

Sora looked around and came by a mirror. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. He looked at the mirror and found an upside-down reflection of his. Though, it wasn't his upside-down reflection that surprised him, but the outfit he was now wearing.

His outfit consisted of a red overcoat with a plaid pattern and dark red cuffs. He wore a red tie with a picture of a clock and a heart on the right side of the tie. His gloves were now completely white and held a more formal appearance. He also wore brown pants with black shoes and for some odd reason; he was wearing a pair of circular lensed glasses. But that wasn't what weirded him out the most…it was what resided on the top of his head, twitching slightly at every little sound he heard.

A pair of long, white rabbit ears…

"GAH!" yelled Sora.

Sora's hands went immediately to the rabbit ears that replaced his ears. He felt them over, mentally screaming in his head as he found out…they were real. Slowly, he started to tug on them as a stream of tears went down his cheeks.

"_Oh, dear god…they're real…"_ he thought, slightly appalled with this fact. "No~…"

Gabby didn't know why Sora was moping over about as she couldn't see very well from above where she was to where Sora was. It was slightly dark and she didn't know if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Soon, she passed the mirror herself and immediately shrieked as she, like Sora, went through a wardrobe change.

Her school uniform had somehow morphed together and changed color, forming into a simple short-sleeved blue dress with a lace-trimmed skirt that went down to just above her knees. A golden trimming encircled the skirt and sleeves of the dress. She wore a white pinafore with the dress, the pinafore's ends tied into a big, white bow just behind her back.

Her penny loafers were now gone, replaced with a pair of red Mary Jane shoes. Her navy blue socks were no longer its original color, now blue and white with a striped pattern. She had a blue, white lace-trimmed cuff around her left wrist.

The first outburst from Gabby at the sight of her new wardrobe change was one of annoyance…and confusion…it looked like something from out of Selphie's manga! (6)

"The hell did this dress come from?" exclaimed Gabby. "And…_what_ the _hell_ happened to my leggings?"

Sora made a note to _not_ look up after hearing that outburst from Gabby. He stopped tugging on his ears as he passed a small table with a few books set around the tabletop. Curiosity getting the better of him as he spotted a book with a cover that had a picture of a girl wearing a blue dress looking at a watch a white rabbit held up to her. He grabbed the book and began to read it, finding it oddly familiar.

"I don't know about you, but this book I'm reading…" said Sora. "This and the whole situation we're in seem oddly familiar…"

Now that Sora mentioned it, Gabby did get a feeling of nostalgia from the situation.

"Indeed," said Gabby. "What are you reading?"

"Some peculiar book about a girl name Alice…" said Sora. "Alice… Why does that name ring a bell?"

At that sudden moment, the chimes of a clock began to ring to notify the hour. Sora blinked and looked at the clock, not noticing the rocking chair that was just below him until he sat in it. The surprise of the rocking chair caused him to drop the book, but he soon relaxed as he leaned back into the chair. He sighed, not noticing that his actions caused the chair to rock back and since a rocking chair goes back, it must go forward as that what it was meant to do.

Rock back and forth…back and forth…

"Aah!" Sora yelled as he fell out of the chair.

He didn't fall for long as he began to drift downwards once more. Sora blinked and adjusted his glasses, stopping in mid-motion as he wondered…

"_Wait, why am I wearing glasses?"_ he thought. _"I can see through these perfectly, though…"_

Sora trailed off as, through his glasses, he saw something that wasn't there before him. It was of Donald and Goofy…and they, like him and Gabby, were drifting downwards, slowly. Goofy was on his back in a casual manner, not noticing the close distance between him and the floor until he turned over onto his stomach and flopped onto the ground rather hard.

THUD!

Donald landed on the ground on his feet near Goofy. He looked at Goofy and sighed. Suddenly, the two were surrounded by what seemed to be…cards! The cards held spears that represented their suite, which were spades. Before Sora could find out what happened next, his vision of the two disappeared as the speed at which he drifted downwards suddenly sped up and in just a matter of seconds, he fell onto the floor…HARD.

THUD!

Sora groaned as he could already tell, his glasses fell off. His eyes were spirals and the wind was just knocked out of him since he had just fallen on his stomach…

"Aagh…" he groaned.

To make his situation more painful, Gabby landed promptly on his back…

"_Lovely…"_ he thought as he groaned again.

Gabby blinked as she tried to grasp the situation they were in. She shook her head and looked around, taking notice to Sora only when he asked, "Can you get off my back?"

Gabby laughed awkwardly and got off Sora immediately. She helped him off the ground afterwards. Sora tottered around in his place as he tried to regain his sense of balance. Oddly enough, he wasn't recovering quite right…and his vision was downright blurry now that those glasses were off his face!

"Gabby…do you see a pair of glasses on the ground?" asked Sora.

Gabby blinked and looked down, nodding when she spotted a pair of glasses. "Yes, I do…Why?"

"Can you get them for me?" he asked.

Gabby sighed and knelt down to pick up the glasses. Afterwards, she stood up and handed the glasses to Sora, whom immediately grabbed them and placed them on. Not long after, Sora's sense of balance miraculously returned. Sora blinked a few times and hunched over, sighing in dismay.

"So much for my perfect vision…" he lamented.

Unbeknownst to him, the rabbit ears he had, twitched. Gabby blinked a few times and stared at the ears with intense interest. She continued to stare at them as they twitched until finally, she had enough. Gabby's hands went over to Sora's ears as she began to tug on them, rubbing them every few seconds or so. (7)

Sora laughed nervously as a bead of sweat rolled down the back of his head.

"Gabby…?" he said. "Please stop that."

"But they're real…" Gabby said, frowning.

Sora crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the floor angrily.

Gabby narrowed her eyes. "…Fine…"

Gabby released Sora's ears, much to his relief. He blinked when he noticed something different about Gabby, aside from her outfit…

"What happened to your hair?" he asked. "It's down!"

Gabby blinked and realized that her hair was no longer up in a braid. It was down…and the blue ribbon Sora had tied into her hair seemed to have also changed. It was now located on the top of her head and was tied into a bow. It had yellow trimmings tied and a red heart decorating the left side of the ribbon.

"Oh…" was all that she could say.

Sora sighed and shook his head. "And I just braided it not that long ago…"

Sora blinked, looking around as his ears perked up to a sound he picked up.

"Oh dear, I'm here!" a voice exclaimed between pants and ragged breathing. "I should be there! She'll have my head for sure!"

Sora blinked, his eyes widening as he recognized the voice as the white rabbit's. He looked around and found a doorway towards a hallway. Immediately, he grabbed onto Gabby's hand and began to drag her with him.

"Sora!" she exclaimed.

"No time to explain!" said Sora. "I found where the rabbit might be!"

Sora came to a stop in the middle of the hallway. He looked around, blinking when he found a green door with a yellow doorknob. His ears twitched again as he could hear the rabbit on the other side.

"This way!" he exclaimed as he pulled Gabby towards him.

The two ran down the hallway and stopped in front of the door. Gabby pushed Sora out of the way and reached for the doorknob, turning and pulling it open. She arched her brow as all she found behind the door, was another door, though it was smaller and of a different color and the doorknob was located on the left side. Sighing, she opened the second door and then a third smaller door and then a fourth. Each door she opened just revealed an even smaller door until finally, after opening the sixth door, she found an opening…though, the entrance was rather small.

"You have _got_ to be _kidding_ me!" Gabby remarked as she crawled through the door.

Sora watched Gabby as she soon disappeared into the doorway. Sighing, Sora got on all fours and crawled after Gabby.

"We're really lucky we're of small height, or else this would be really difficult," he commented as he had to stop midway for Gabby, who was currently opening yet another door.

"It's pronounced, 'fun-sized'," Gabby said sternly. "Small is a status condition, which we do not have…"

"That's mini!" corrected Sora. (8)

"Same thing!" she exclaimed. "Really, it is!"

Sora arched his brow and sighed as he followed after Gabby as she crawled out of the doorway. Gabby shook her head and looked around, finding the whole room the doors led to rather peculiar.

"Curiouser and curiouser," she said. "This place is awfully nostalgic…like out of a book—huh?"

Gabby blinked a few times as she saw the white rabbit, albeit a bit smaller than before, going through an open door behind a couple of red curtains. The door soon closed behind him after the rabbit made it through, leaving Gabby puzzled as to how the rabbit got so small.

"Um…Gabby?" said Sora. "Do you mind moving a bit? You're in the way…"

Gabby blinked and nodded as she got off the floor and stood up. She moved away from the door as Sora crawled through the opening. Gabby looked around the room, finding it rather empty aside from the door at the end of the room. The walls held the same square pattern, though differed in coloration as one was blue, another was green, and a third was red.

A few moments later,

Gabby and Sora walked towards the door hidden behind the red curtains. Gabby knelt down and pulled the drapes apart, arching her brow as she remembered how small the rabbit was when he went through the door, but that just left the question…

"How did he get so small?" asked Gabby.

Sora shrugged, not knowing what Gabby meant as he didn't see the rabbit…he only heard him, thanks to the rabbit ears Sora now had. Though, not long after, a sudden voice answered Gabby's question…

"No, you're simply too big," said a voice.

Sora and Gabby stared at the door agape, having noticed that it was the doorknob who had spoken. Sora's ears stood up straight as he exclaimed, "It talks!"

The doorknob just opened his keyhole-like mouth wide open as he yawned. He was obviously sleepy, having just woken up, no thanks to Gabby. The doorknob closed his mouth and opened his eyes as he looked at Sora and Gabby.

"Must you be so loud?" he asked. "You woke me up. Fortunately for me, you didn't decide to give me a turn."

Gabby laughed awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head. "So…how do we get through?"

The doorknob looked at Gabby and closed his eyes as he replied, "Sorry, you're much too big. Simply, impassible."

Gabby arched her brow as she said, "You mean impossible?"

The doorknob chuckled. "No, impassible. Nothing's impossible!"

Gabby closed her eyes as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. "Right…"

"Why don't you try the bottle on the table?" the doorknob suggested as he used his doorknob nose to gesture behind Sora and Gabby.

Gabby tilted her head to the side as Sora said, "Table?"

Sora and Gabby looked behind them and blinked as they saw a glass table in the center of the room. A small, glass bottle with a tag on it stood on the tabletop. Strange…That wasn't there before…was it?

Shaking her head, Gabby stood up and walked over to the table. She picked up the bottle and looked at the tag as the doorknob said, "Read the directions, and directly you'll be directed in the right direction."

Gabby didn't seemed to hear the doorknob as she was too busy ready the tag on the bottle.

"Drink me," she read. "Well, I've never been one to ignore something this logical."

Sora sweat dropped as he laughed nervously. His ears perked up as he heard Gabby pull off the cork on the bottle. He opened his eyes and watched Gabby stare at the bottle.

"Well…here goes nothing," Gabby said as she brought the bottle to her lips and began to down some of the liquid in it.

Sora stared at Gabby, curiosity getting the better of him as he asked, "How's it taste?"

Gabby took the bottle away from her mouth as she began to contemplate the taste of the liquid.

"Hmm…tastes like…cherry tart," she said.

Unbeknownst to Gabby but noticeable to Sora, the second Gabby listed off the first flavor of the liquid, she shrunk down a size. Sora stared at Gabby wide-eyed as the girl took another sip from the bottle, listing off yet another flavor.

"Custard…" she said.

Sora gasped as Gabby shrunk down _another_ size. Gabby had yet to notice this as she continued to list off the flavors.

"Pineapple…roast turkey—wah!" Gabby exclaimed as she fell over, the bottle in her hands having been too big for her to hold, now, for some odd reason. "What did I do?"

Sora stared nervously at his shrunken friend and knelt down to pick her up by the back of her pinafore. Gabby exclaimed and looked around frantically, wondering what it was that picked her up. Now that she thought about it, how did everything get so big?

"Gabby!" said Sora.

Gabby flinched and covered her ears at the loud volume Sora spoke to her. He didn't have to be so damn loud! Ah! Her ears!

Sora stuttered a bit and lowered his voice as he spoke to Gabby.

"Gabby," he said. "You've gotten…er…how should I put it?"

"You almost went out like a candle!" the doorknob said, chuckling afterwards.

Gabby blinked a few times and looked around, gasping when she found herself face to face with a rather giant Sora.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "How did you get so big?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "About that…you shrunk."

Gabby tilted her head to the side and looked down; spotting the glass bottle she drank out of on the floor.

"Oh…" she said. "Well, at least I'm the right size! Put me down!"

Sora nodded and carefully placed Gabby onto the floor. Gabby adjusted her skirt, smoothing out the wrinkles a bit before she ran over to the doorknob. The doorknob moved out of the way as Gabby reached for his nose.

"Oh, no use!" the doorknob said, laughing. "I forgot to tell you! I'm locked!"

Gabby stared at the doorknob for a few seconds, her face contorting into an expression of rage.

"Why I oughta—!" she said.

"But of course, uh, you've got the key, so…" the doorknob quickly said.

Gabby tilted her head to the side. "What key?"

The doorknob stared at Gabby strangely. "Now, don't tell me you've left it up there!"

Gabby turned around and looked up at the table. A gold key immediately appeared on the table. She narrowed her eyes and sighed.

"This is gonna be hard…" she said.

Gabby tightened her fists and walked over to the table. Sora watched his friend attempt to climb the table for the key. Since the table was made out of glass, it was only obvious as to why Gabby slid down. Now he could only wonder why she didn't ask him to give her the key…

"If ignorance is a bliss, then Gabby must be ecstatic," he muttered. (9)

Gabby crossed her arms as she landed rear-first onto the floor. She sighed and said, "Now what to do…"

"Try the box, naturally," the doorknob replied.

Gabby blinked as a small golden box appeared right in front of her. She opened the box and inside, was a few cookies, each labeled with a few words. She picked up the cookie that said "eat me".

"Well, never been one to pass down food that wants to be eaten," she said, taking a bite into the cookie. "Now I wonder what—whoa, whoa, whoa, ow!"

No sooner after eating part of the cookie did Gabby begin to grow bigger at a rapid rate. She stopped growing once her head hit the ceiling. Sora stared agape at Gabby as he pressed his back against the wall. That scared him!

Gabby rubbed her head, mentally cursing the ceiling. She blinked a few times as she heard the doorknob's muffled voice. She looked around and moved her foot when she realized that it was muffling the doorknob.

"What was that?" she asked.

The doorknob moved his mouth a bit before replying, "I said, 'a little of that went a long way'!"

Gabby narrowed her eyes at the doorknob as it started laughing. Not funny…

"Gabby…you know you could've asked me for the key, right?" said Sora.

Gabby looked at Sora, who was now smaller than her in size. After a few moments, Gabby slapped her hand onto her forehead.

"Just… pass me the bottle…" Gabby strained through her teeth. She _really_ felt stupid for that…

Sora sighed and hopped over Gabby's leg as he made his way towards the bottle. After a few moments of looking for the bottle, Sora finally found it by Gabby's right foot. Now that just left him with getting over to Gabby…

"This place is already getting on my nerves…" Sora complained as he hopped over Gabby's leg again.

Five minutes later,

Sora finally got the bottle to Gabby. Gabby took the bottle from him and drank out of it, immediately shrinking down to size in midair. Sora stared in shock as he saw Gabby beginning to fall downwards.

"Gahh!" she exclaimed.

Sora acted quickly and held out his hands as he ran after Gabby. He barely caught her and the bottle before they both landed on the ground. Of course, that meant he had to take a fall for them…literally.

Gabby adjusted her skirt and stood up in Sora's hands. She looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks!" she exclaimed.

Sora nodded as Gabby jumped off his hand and landed onto the floor. Sora sighed and got up from the floor. He dusted himself quickly and then walked over to the table. Grabbing the key, Sora drank out from the bottle and prepared himself as he started to shrink. After a few seconds, Sora was about close to Gabby's size, though, unlike her, he had a key. Sora sighed and walked over to the doorknob, placing the key into the keyhole. Gabby ran over to his side as she helped him open the door.

"Well, it's been pleasant getting to know you," Sora said to the doorknob as he entered the doorway.

Gabby nodded and waved at the doorknob.

"Goodbye!" she said, and with that, she closed the door behind her.

Sora sighed and placed the key into his pocket. He didn't know if they were going to need it again, so it was best to be safe than sorry.

"What now?" he asked.

Gabby ran after Sora as she tried to catch up to him. "I dunno, but I think finding Donald and Goofy should be our top priority."

Sora nodded and froze as he saw through his glasses, yet another vision that was not in front of him. It was Donald and Goofy again and this time…they were being escorted by a couple of card soldiers into what seemed to be…

"A dungeon?" he exclaimed.

Gabby looked at Sora strangely and asked, "What's wrong?"

Sora took off his glasses and placed them on Gabby's face. Gabby blinked a few times and exclaimed, "What's going on?"

Sora grabbed his glasses and placed them back onto his face. "I don't know, but Donald and Goofy are in trouble! We need to find them!"

Gabby frowned. "But, how?"

Sora bit his lip and looked down. He didn't know…

* * *

Meanwhile in the dungeon,

Donald stood off the ground as he held onto the bars of his cell. He was shaking them furiously as he yelled, "I demand a lawyer!"

Goofy just sat on a bench suspended by a few chains that hung on the wall. He was currently playing a melancholic tone on a harmonica he managed to have in his pocket. Donald turned his head to Goofy and scowled at him. Donald released his grip on the bars and landed onto the ground.

"Goofy!" he yelled. "This is no time to be—"

"Oh, my!" said a young, girlish voice. "Did you two get on the Queen's bad side as well?"

Donald and Goofy turned their heads to the darker corner of their cell. They stared at the corner and blinked when they saw a young girl walk into view. She seemed no older than six and for her age, she managed to speak in a rather clear and polite tone. (10)

The girl had long, thick blonde hair with a black bow tied into it and blue eyes. She wore a blue dress with a white pinafore, along with white tights and black Mary Jane shoes. The girl looked at Donald and Goofy long and hard, backing a few steps as she gasped.

"My, you two are rather strange," said the girl. "Forgive me if I'm rude…I've just been through so much."

Goofy shook his head and replied, "No bother, ma'am!"

The girl smiled and placed her hand on her chest.

"Allow me to introduce myself," said the girl. "I'm Alice…a pleasure to be of your acquaintance, if you will."

* * *

Back with Sora and Gabby,

Sora and Gabby had managed to come upon a rather peculiar area full of trees with many signs that just seemed to point in every direction…in fact, it was even labeled on them! Why did a beautiful garden have a pathway leading into this forest?

"This is getting us nowhere!" Gabby exclaimed as Sora read the signs.

"I believe nowhere is over there," Sora said, pointing in a random direction.

Gabby looked at Sora and moved him out of the way. "Let me see…well, what do you know? It is…strange."

"Indeed," said Sora. "Now can you stop yelling? You're hurting my ears!"

Sora looked at Gabby sternly as he rubbed his ears. His ears suddenly perked up as they picked up a sound. It sounded oddly like…

"Music?" questioned Sora.

"I hear it, too," said Gabby. "Where's it coming from?"

"Lose something?" asked a voice.

Sora and Gabby looked at each other. It certainly wasn't either of them who spoke…so then, who did? Suddenly, a track of paw prints began to appear on the ground, walking right towards the two. As it got closer to them, the tracks split apart as it literally went around Sora and Gabby, leaving the two encircled by paw prints. The tracks continued to walk ahead until whatever it was that made it suddenly jumped up into the tree with a small flash of pink of purple. Not long after did whatever it was that jumped into the tree, disappeared.

"What was that?" asked Sora.

Gabby shrugged and froze as she saw what seemed to be a cat's head, float in midair right behind Sora. Sora didn't seemed to notice it, but he certainly did hear it as it began to sing…

"_My head begins to jingle_

_Most ev'ry time I'm nod_

_Cause obviously, quite obviously I'm odd~!"_

Sora immediately turned around, at which by then, the cat's head had already disappeared. Instantly, the cat's head…or, more like its grin, appeared above a tree branch in a tree just behind Sora and Gabby.

"_Each Christmas I go fishing_

_to catch a christmas cod_

_Cause obviously, quite obviously, I'm odd~!"_

Sora and Gabby turned to the tree, only for the grin to suddenly disappear. As they stared questioningly at the tree, a rather rotund cat with a perpetual grin appeared right on a tree branch in another tree just behind Sora and Gabby. The cat lied on his stomach, his paws under his chin as he stared at the two teens.

The cat had striped purple and pink fur, the pattern just stopping abruptly at his wrists and ankles. His mouth, hands, feet, and the tip of his tail were a very light pink while the fur on his head, was a violet red. He had yellow eyes and black eyebrows with a dark rose nose and six short, gray whiskers that resembled what seemed to be a small beard.

The cat was observing every little detail of movement the two teens made as he sang.

"_When I was just a kitten,_

_They'd said I'd be a gem,_

_But now that I'm a_

_Cheshire Cat_

_It's odd how odd I am~!"_

Sora and Gabby looked back, the cat disappearing instantly before the two could get a good look at him. Unbeknownst to them, the cat reappeared in the tree he was previously in before behind Sora and Gabby. This time, he was standing on his head…_literally_, on one foot.

"_I own a feather pillow,_

_but I slumber on the sod_

_Cause obviously, quite obviously_

_I'm odd~!"_

Sora and Gabby immediately turned around, managing to catch a full glimpse of the cat this time. The cat's wide grin only seemed to widen even more as he got off his head. He used his hands to pick his head up and place it right back on his shoulders. Afterwards, he clasped his hands together and looked at Sora and Gabby.

"Not much quick on your feet, are we?" he asked.

"A cat?" said Sora.

The cat held up his hand as he said, "A Cheshire Cat, if you will. Now what was that about what you've lost?"

Gabby blinked and nodded. "Oh, our friends…have you seen 'em?"

"Have I seen them or have I not?" the Cheshire Cat said, shrugging. "The question is, how far will you go to find them?"

"What kind of question is that?" asked Gabby.

"That depends on what type of question you want it to be," the Cheshire Cat replied. "A question's a question, whether it has an answer or not is entirely up to you."

With that said, the Cheshire Cat disappeared, leaving just his wide grin behind.

"_When I was just a kitten,_

_they'd said I'd be a gem_

_But now that I'm a_

_Cheshire Cat_

_It's odd how odd I am…"_

The Cheshire Cat reappeared again, body and grin altogether as he leaned back against the tree.

"_Most cats have_

_handsome whiskers_

_But me, I've got a_

_beard_

_Cause obviously,_

_quite obviously,_

_I'm weird!"_

Sora and Gabby stared at the Cheshire Cat for a full minute before saying, "Obviously." (11)

The Cheshire Cat didn't seem to be one bit offended by the comment, in fact…his grin just seemed to widen even more.

"I believe you've also lost something else," said the Cheshire Cat. "Can you figure out what it is? Think: it's something that you have recently obtained, but have yet to master."

Sora and Gabby both blinked and crossed their arms as they began to think. Gabby was the first to answer after a full minute of silence.

"Magic?" asked Gabby.

"Close, but no cigar," the Cheshire Cat said, thinking about whether or not to give the two teens yet another hint.

It was only until the Cheshire Cat caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a large bodied creature of some sort accompanied by a few small shadow-like creatures and soldiers that he decided to go for the hint.

"You might want to hurry," said the Cheshire Cat. "The shadows are not kind as I've expected them not to be. You may have already encountered them before, have you not?"

Sora arched his brow at the Cheshire Cat and turned around, his eyes widening as he spotted what seemed to be the Heartless…oh, yes, it was definitely them.

"Not them!" said Sora.

Gabby blinked and immediately turned around, groaning afterwards at the mere sight of the Heartless. The Cheshire Cat just continued to grin and watched the two teens as it was only a matter of seconds before…

"What the?" they exclaimed.

Sora's eyes widened as he realized something…he couldn't summon the Keyblade and neither could Gabby. The two immediately realized another thing as well…this was what the Cheshire Cat had been talking about. Aside from losing their friends, they have also lost the ability to use the Keyblade…

"Not good," said Sora.

"Not good, indeed," said the Cheshire Cat. "You two are what they call 'the wielders of the Keyblade', if I'm not mistaken, right? There is more than one of you, as it seems… No one has expected the Keyblade to choose a partner…"

Sora blinked and exclaimed, "How did you know?"

"Just I guess, I assume," replied the Cheshire Cat. "And, as strong as you may be, you are also young, am I correct?"

Sora clenched his teeth as the Cheshire Cat had hit the nail. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gabby's head as she stared at the Heartless that began to surround them. They had no other means of protecting themselves aside from their fists…but that's too risky!

The Cheshire Cat seemed to take note of that, but he stayed put as he still had to give a reason to the two teens.

"While others may look twice, I take action," said the Cheshire Cat. "Your friends are not the only ones in trouble…have you heard of a girl name, 'Alice'?"

Sora and Gabby both froze as they began to put two and two together. Alice…Cheshire Cat…shrinking and growing…

"Wonderland?" exclaimed Sora. (12)

The Cheshire Cat grinned as he said, "Correct, young wielder. This is Wonderland…though, not much land at first glance, there is much wonder."

Gabby blinked a few times and scowled as an assumption came to mind.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "You're the one who did this, aren't you?"

The Cheshire Cat took off his head and began to stand on it once more.

"Smart, aren't you?" said the Cheshire Cat. "Can you stand on your head?"

Gabby growled and quickly looked away to punch back a Soldier Heartless. Sora and Gabby teamed up for the moment to take on a larger bodied Heartless, managing to gain an escape after finding a simple looking pathway. As they ran into the forest, Sora and Gabby looked back. They lost the Heartless…but for how long?

"To answer your question, I'll be frank," said a familiar voice. "Yes, it was indeed me…but for what reason?"

Sora and Gabby turned their heads, spotting the Cheshire Cat lying on his stomach on a tree stump. He stared at them, his grin never once leaving his face.

"Friend or foe?" said the Cheshire Cat. "I can be either, or maybe…I could be neither. It's all up to you to decide."

Sora scowled. "You again!"

The Cheshire Cat smiled and with his tail, he lifted off the top of his head as if he were taking off a hat. Afterwards, the Cheshire Cat set his top back onto his head.

"It seems you don't fare much against the shadows without your weapons," said the Cheshire Cat. "Your life would be easier if you had Magic…which you don't have, do you?"

Sora and Gabby looked nervously at the Cheshire Cat. The Cheshire Cat shrugged using his feet.

"A pity that your magical ability has yet to develop," said the Cheshire Cat. "But maybe…I could be of assistance."

Sora scowled as he tightened his fist. "Why should we trust you? You've disabled our ability to use the Keyblade!"

"With good reason," said the Cheshire Cat. "To trust or not to trust? I trust you'll decide…as I decide whether or not you are indeed worthy of wielding the blade that resembles a key. Now choose…"

Sora and Gabby looked at each other. They were screwed without Magic at the moment as they had no weapon on them of whatsoever!

After a full five minutes of silence…

"We'll trust you…for now," said Sora.

"Good answer," said the Cheshire Cat. "But I'll need you to do something for me…it's about Alice."

Gabby arched her brow at the striped cat. "What of Alice?"

"It seems the Queen of Hearts has gotten quite a bit mixed up between who's after her heart," said the Cheshire Cat. "For it not for the King of Hearts, your friends may have already lost their heads…instead, they shall face a trial."

The two teens stared agape at the Cheshire Cat as he continued on.

"I need you to help Alice find her way out," said the Cheshire Cat. "Not much searching shall be needed as where your friends are, Alice should not be that far away…in fact, I think she's with them. Now a question…can you attempt to use Magic?"

Sora held out his hands and took a deep breath. If he had learned anything from Lulu and Wakka, was that concentration was needed…but along with that, thinking and channeling energy is what the most important in casting Magic. It shouldn't be much trouble as his mother is a Mage…but still, his father, Takeru, had came from a family of Black Mages and yet, Takeru couldn't use Magic.

Sora thought of something hot as he exclaimed, "Fire!"

A weak ball of fire managed to drop from Sora's hand. Sora stared wide-eyed at what he just saw. He just casted a Fire spell…

"I did it!" said Sora.

Gabby stared at Sora in awe. "Wow…"

"Pity it's not much, but then again…you are just buds," said the Cheshire Cat. "You, there…how able are you at Magic?"

Gabby bit her lip and held out her hands. She didn't know a crap about Magic aside from the castings… So, with all her will and concentration, she managed to create a weak flame in the palms of her right hand, but that was about it. She stopped her concentration and the flame immediately flickered out.

"Oh…" she said.

The Cheshire Cat stared at the two, his grin ceasing for once.

"All right, now," the Cheshire Cat said, holding out his hand. "You'll never make it like that. I can't give you exactly what you're missing just yet, but I can help…in a way that seems to suit you the most." (13)

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and a box suddenly appeared out of midair. Gabby held out her hands and caught the box. She stared at it curiously, eying the crank on the side of the box.

"Jack's a friend, but his temperament is _explosive_," said the Cheshire Cat. "Perhaps best to let him play by himself."

Gabby immediately made a mental note not to turn the crank and if she did…she would throw that box and run like hell.

"Just channel your energy and concentrate," said the Cheshire Cat. "But be warned…you will eventually have to learn the basics. The more you use this, the harder it will be to use it again. Now for your weapons…"

"We get weapons?" asked Gabby.

"Yes, how else will you get around?" asked the Cheshire Cat. "You can't get far using your fists, can you?"

Gabby crossed her arms and sighed. "Good point…"

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and a set of jacks with a red ball appeared in front of Sora. Sora grabbed the jacks and the ball, looking over them afterwards.

"This simple game can turn distinctly nasty," the Cheshire Cat explained. "Don't ever play alone. As for you…"

A deck of cards appeared in front of Gabby. Gabby immediately took the cards and looked rather pleased with them…though, still confused as to why she had this as a weapon. It's not like it was impossible. A deck of cards has been used before as a weapon of choice…usually for Gamblers, who use both dice and cards…and the element, chance, especially chance. However, Gabby was not a Gambler…she was a Thief-slash-Warrior.

"52 pickup is a staple of juvenile humor," said the Cheshire Cat. "But when the deck slices and dices, it is no laughing manner."

Gabby liked the sound of that and yet…why did it seem so familiar? It was like she heard it before…

"Your weapons are necessary, but not sufficient," said the Cheshire Cat. "The closer you get, the more of these you shall receive. Always collect what's useful. Reject only your ignorance and you may survive."

Gabby's eyes widened as she realized, the Cheshire Cat was quoting one of the games she had played…

"You got that off _American McGee's Alice_!" exclaimed Gabby. (14)

The Cheshire Cat grinned at Gabby. "I thought you would be pleased to relive that game of yours… Not much macabre, though…"

Sora was actually thankful for that…he didn't want to deal with situations similar to what Alice went through in that game…

"_So much insanity…"_ thought Sora.

Yet, it was still a great game…

"Cheshire Cat…a question, if you will?" said Gabby.

"Proceed," said the Cheshire Cat.

Gabby gestured at her current outfit. "Care to explain _why_ I'm in a dress?"

Sora blinked and nodded as he pulled on his ears. "Yeah! And _what_ is up with _these_? They're real!"

The Cheshire Cat only grinned. "Every Wonderland needs an Alice, every Alice needs her White Rabbit…the outfit fits the character, but does the person? That is very well left up for you to find out." (15)

With that said, the Cheshire Cat disappeared from view entirely. However, his voice could still be heard as it echoed a few directions for Sora and Gabby to follow.

"Through the wood and to the coast, you will encounter a Dodo," said the Cheshire Cat's voice. "Join the Caucus Race and the White Rabbit will show you the way to your next location."

And with that, the Cheshire Cat stayed silent, giving note that he had left. Sora and Gabby looked at each other and shrugged. What a weird meeting—Heartless!

"Dammit!" exclaimed Sora. "We just got these weapons!"

Gabby growled and immediately started flicking out the cards at the Shadow Heartless that tried to sneak up on her. It took about a Full House to kill off two Shadows…literally since the deck wasn't shuffled and most obviously rigged, but Gabby wasn't complaining. The cards went back to the deck and reshuffled themselves into yet another suite of Poker hands.

Sora was doing rather well with the jacks. After dodging a larger bodied Heartless, he threw the jacks and distanced himself slightly away from the Heartless as the red ball bounced and the jacks assailed the Heartless. It took only a matter of minutes until the Heartless toppled over and a pink heart fluttered into the sky. When that happened, Sora dashed over to the jacks and picked them up, along with the ball.

Well, that was one group of Heartless out of the way…for now… Now to look for the Dodo…if memory recalled, the Caucus Race was located by a sea of tears…

"But wasn't the sea of tears located where we entered the door?" Sora asked Gabby.

Gabby blinked and crossed her arms as she began to think. After a few seconds, she nodded.

"Yeah, it was…but where was the sea?" she asked. "Let's just keep walking, the Cat told us that it was through this direction and—WAGH!"

Gabby exclaimed as a HUGE wave of water splashed over her and Sora, soaking them thoroughly to the skin. Sora took off his glasses and quickly wiped off some of the water, during which, he began to speak.

"We found our coast," said Sora.

Gabby scowled as she wringed the water off her dress's skirt. "When did we get out of the forest?"

Sora looked around after placing his glasses on and noticed that whatever forest they had been in, suddenly just vanished. Sora blinked a few times and shrugged. It _was_ called _Wonder_land for a reason…it was either that, or it was the doing of the Cheshire Cat…most likely the Cat.

SPLASH!

"Oh, god dammit—GAH!" exclaimed Sora.

Another wave crashed over the two, only this time, it dragged them into the sea. Luckily for them, they knew how to swim…which was something mostly everyone in Destiny Island Academy, knew by the time they were six years old. They had to start training kids how to hold their breath under water for various time periods…it was for possible Blitzball players and just training for underwater endurance.

"Sora!" exclaimed Gabby. "This dress is getting on my nerves!"

Sora's head bobbed out of the water as he inhaled deeply. He shook his head as he began to swim in place. During which, he decided to take a look at Gabby and when he did, he held back a laugh. Air bubbles began to build up under Gabby's skirt, making the fabric float up onto the surface, much to Gabby's annoyance as she tried to push it down under the water, but that only created more air bubbles.

"So what now?" Gabby asked Sora as they began to look around for shore.

It seemed that the waves had pulled them a bit too far into the sea… Well, there was nothing else to do, save swim about, hoping that they luck out and end up finding shore. And that's what they did! Er…sort of, as another wave managed to drag them under and the next thing they knew, a line of various birds, starfish, lobsters, and more fish, were running them over, not taking one bit of notice to the two as they ran around a rock in a circle.

On top of the rock, was a rather large Dodo bird wearing a black hat and a black coat with a purple shirt under. The Dodo was huddled around a small fire as he smoked his pipe, singing with the rest of the group.

"_Forward, backward, inward, outward, come and join the chase!_

_Nothing could be drier than a jolly caucus-race!_

_Backward, forward, outward, inward, bottom to the top,_

_Never a beginning there can never be a stop—"_

Another wave crashed over the group, but they kept running around in a circle, much to Sora and Gabby's annoyance as the animals were stepping and landing right on top of their heads and backs. The only difference between them and Gabby to Sora when it came to his back, was that, unlike Gabby, the animals were much lighter in weight…

_"I better not say that around her…"_ Sora thought.

For some unknown reason, Gabby had the sudden urge to punch Sora…

The Dodo quickly took note of the water rising as he picked up the small fire and held it up, away from the water. As he did this, he continued to sing.

_"—to skipping, hopping, tripping, fancy free and gay,_

_I started it tomorrow and will finish yesterday."_

The Dodo placed the small fire back onto the rock as the water began to lower down again. Afterwards, he shook his hands a bit as the waves pulled the water back into the sea, revealing the group running around the rock in a circle. Sora and Gabby spat out the water in their mouth as they attempt to get up…only for a green parrot to land on Sora's head and push his face into the ground. Gabby went through the same thing…only difference, the bird that landed on her head was the pelican, much heavier than the parrot by at least a few pounds or so…

_"Round and round and round we go, and dance for evermore,_

_Once we were behind but now we find we are be-forward,_

_Backward, inward, outward, come and join the chase!_

_Nothing could be drier than a jolly caucus-race._

_Backward..."_

The Dodo stopped singing as the rest of the group continued on. He had finally taken notice of the two teens with their heads planted face first into the ground. His beak formed into a grin as his hands hovered over the fire for warmth. He took the pipe out of his mouth and looked at Sora and Gabby as he chuckled.

"I say!" he said. "You'll never get dry that way!"

Sora was the first to lift his head off the ground. Fish hopped onto his back and over his shoulder, not being much of a bother to him as he talked to the Dodo.

"I've noticed," he said a bit sarcastically.

Unlike in the book, this caucus race had absolutely no real point of getting dried…save for the Dodo, who had a fire. (16)

The Dodo only waved his pipe at Sora as he talked to him in a matter-of-factly, "Have to run with the others! First rule of a caucus-race, you know!"

Sora stood up and began to wring the water off his ears. The Dodo placed his pipe back into his mouth as he began to smoke a bit, during which, he held out his foot close to the fire for warmth and dryness.

Gabby growled as every time she managed to get her head off the ground, the pelican managed to push her face right back into the ground…lovely. After one more try, she finally managed to get up and stand straight…only for another wave to crash over her and the group.

When the water was pulled back into the sea, Gabby found herself running around in a meaningless circle along with the group. As did Sora, as he decided to screw it and go along with what the Cheshire Cat told him. The caucus race was supposed to show him the way how?

The Dodo just smiled as he could saw the two teens join the caucus race.

"That's better!" he chirped. "Have you two dried in no time, now!"

"I have yet to see the point of this!" Gabby huffed as a black bird used its big, orange beak to push her ahead a few inches.

The Dodo just placed his pipe back into his mouth.

"Nonsense!" the Dodo said, placing his rear end by the fire. "I'm as dry as a bone already!"

Sora narrowed his eyes._ "Says you, you're not even running…"_

Gabby was trying to pick up the pace as the bird behind her continued to push her with its beak. Another wave crashed over the group and after the water was pulled away, Gabby blinked as she noticed that she was now sitting on top of the black bird's beak. The bird didn't take her as much of a bother as it kept on running. Oddly enough, the whole group seemed drier than they previously were…

"All right, chaps!" the Dodo announced, taking off his hat as he looked at Gabby and tipped it at her in a respectful manner. "Lady…let's head now! Look lively!"

Sora just rolled his eyes and stopped himself when he noticed a rather familiar figure, wash ashore. It was the White Rabbit…and he was currently a bit worn out, having been making it through the sea of tears sitting in his opened umbrella. Now if memory recalled, the Cheshire Cat said that the White Rabbit would show them the way to their next location…

"There's the White Rabbit!" Sora exclaimed.

Gabby blinked and looked in the direction Sora pointed at. She soon spotted the White Rabbit and called out, "Hey! Mr. Rabbit!"

Gabby passed the Rabbit as the bird she sat on, ran by him. The White Rabbit snapped out of his small daze and took out his pocket watch, his eyes widening as he noticed the time.

"Oh, my goodness!" he exclaimed, literally jumping up a few feet into the air. "I'm late! I'm late!"

The White Rabbit immediately grabbed his umbrella and held it over himself as he ran, not stopping when the water in the umbrella fell all over him. Sora huffed and got out of the circle, waiting a few seconds before he grabbed onto Gabby's arm as the bird she was on passed right him. Afterwards, Sora trailed after the White Rabbit, dragging Gabby with him.

* * *

A/N End of chapter…yeah! This one was done quick! Date of Final Revamp: 10-31-11

For those of you who have been with this story back when it was still…ugh! A lot of you should notice a huge change…one of them being the fact that I typed up WONDERLAND! *gasp*

I know! Never thought I would see the day I would do this, but…with my current obsession of some sort with Alice in Wonderland influenced series, such as _American McGee's Alice_…and after seeing the sequel, I am hooked! ^^ Let's see…uh, _Heart no Kuni no Alice_ (_Alice in the Country of Hearts_), is another one, especially! I just love Peter White and Blood Dupre…moving on!

If you're wondering why this whole chapter was random…it's meant to be random. This is Wonderland, where logic has no place and the seemingly impossible exist! Like Dodos, an extinct species of birds! Yeah…I'm not sure if that came out right…

And here's the thing, _Alice in Wonderland_ is such a well-known story and concept that it really shouldn't be much of a surprise to see that people know of it. It's been done in manga, why not Kingdom Hearts? Yeah, that's me doing that part…XD I'll bring this up again in the notes…

So this chapter, here…it's basically breaking the fourth wall a bit. Even the Cheshire Cat knows of the whole concept involving Alice in Wonderland…and why? He's the Cheshire Cat, he like knows just about everything. It seems like it…yeah…

Anyways, you should also notice that I've managed to make Wonderland…original! Well, to a certain extent, as I am using bits from both the book and its sequel (very interesting read…) and the movie! And also…you have encountered something you'd thought you'd only see in Atlantica in Kingdom Hearts II…singing! DX NUUUU!

But then, Wonderland wouldn't be Wonderland without singing! Seriously! I encountered at least a FEW songs in the book and one was from the Mock Turtle! Anyways, let's go on with the notes!

(1) Yeah, no…this is as far as my originality can take me. It's waaay too complicated to add too many people to the journey. Besides, as stated in the summary, this is between Sora, his unwanted partner (last person he'd EVER choose to take on this death-potential adventure), and a talking dog and duck. That be one hell of a team that is beyond normal…

Yuna, Tidus, and Selphie kinda normalize it, plus…how the hell are Tidus and Selphie going to fight Heartless off with a stick and a jump rope? It only works on people! DX At least in Traverse Town, they have sufficient people to back them up and hook them up to good weapons!

Ahem, so yeah…explanation as to why these three are stuck in Traverse Town. If all goes well, I may just create a side story involving the Heartless Extermination Committee…MAYBE. It depends on if you guys want it or not and if I can get a good idea what to do with it…moving on!

(2) Uh, before anything, I should probably point out that I'm using content from the Kingdom Hearts manga…really, you can find good stuff in the manga! :D Basically, this whole chapter was even INFLUENCED by the Wonderland chapter, only…with some additions and such.

(3) If you do not see Jiminy popping out every once in a while within a new world, you shall see how he gets his information for his journal through moments like these! Plus, it seems like a good outlet for Sora and Gabby to give their side of the story…yeah.

(4) I have also seem to notice that I made another running gag…when falling down from a high distance down, Gabby will most likely get out of the whole situation without pain, instead…she will cause it to whomever's back she lands on! XD

Yeah, I think this'd be a bit of a compensation for Gabby since she ends up crashing face-first into walls or falling flat on her face…hey! She deserves to see someone _else_ getting hurt from falling down! It's a wonder her nose hasn't gotten broken or anything, but then again, videogame logic trumps that factor with how Sora has managed to lived through that three-story height landing and don't get me _started_ on the Deep Jungle landing…

(5) Yeah, this is where you know I'm deviating from the game plot and such since, really, they could've done better with Wonderland…instead, I got a reason to HATE this world. I got lost so many times going through that forest…DX

(6) That's because it IS out of a manga! 8D *gets shot*

Anyone wondering about the dress…Gabby's sporting the same outfit as Alice Liddell from _Heart no Kuni no Alice_ (_Alice in the Country of Hearts_)…dude! How else would I have made this world less annoying (for me) than it was in the game if there are no outfit changes? The only reason Halloween Town wasn't as annoying for me in the first game (I HATED the Wight Knights…) was because of the costumes…god! Sora as a vampire…it made everything worth it and Jack Skellington… :D

(7) _Inuyasha_ reference of some sort…credit goes to my dear friend, **Hestic**, with bringing up the suggestion. Also, like Gabby, Sora is also taking up another character's outfit from the same manga series, only Sora is Peter White, the White Rabbit…why? The Cheshire Cat already explained it, so it's rather self-explanatory by now. And, if you will, I gave you Sora fangirls some fanservice.

I am pretty sure some of you fangirls are enjoying Sora with bunny ears and glasses… And for the yaoi fangirls (if any)…I am deeply sorry that this isn't a SoRiku story, but I happen to still live at home and be under 18…I rather not have anyone (specifically my family) walk in on me when and IF I ever do write a boyxboy story…and hey! I'm sure there are other stories like that on this site. I mean, it IS fanfiction!

(8) Self-explanatory about the alternate status names, so the only reason for this note is that it is another _Final Fantasy_ reference…yup! It is also the first level of the Transform Materia (FFVII), in which its second level (once it is leveled out), changes to Frog…

Comment from 4-9-11 that I decided to keep: God, those Frogs are annoying! DX It turned Yuffie into a frog and I didn't have any Maiden's Kiss on me! So far, it is my first and ONLY encounter with them…yup! XD

(9) Credit goes to **Hestic**, again, as she is there for when I need her the most…as am I, but not as much…yeah…I owe you so much! DX Not that I'm complaining, though! XD Yeah…

Be aware, **Hestic** be my FF buddy, so you'll probably be seeing her name a lot in the little notes.

(10) Yeah, no…I do not accept the age of eleven that they gave Alice in explanation for her…status. It makes her seem rather stupid and with an age of seven, it actually makes it _acceptable_, only because seven year-old Alice has an _excuse_ for acting in such a way that gets her in trouble.

Yeah, might've tweaked it a bit, but you'll see later on… Six is the new seven…XD

(11) The deleted Cheshire Cat song, _I'm Weird_, that was replaced with the _Twas brillig_ to keep the inclusion of Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky poem…yeah…BTW, this song is AWESOME!

Reason for this random scene? Dude, it's _Alice in Wonderland_…nothing makes sense and that's how it's supposed to be! Otherwise, where's the wonder? Exactly…

(12) I have already explained in the A/N, but to back this up…Sora and Gabby have read the book, _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ and _Through the Looking Glass_…if you read them and watch the movie, you can see that these two things intertwine.

And other thing…there was NO talking doorknob, so that would explain why it took longer for either Sora and Gabby to figure out what world they are in…talking doorknob threw them off as well as the whole shrinking and growing. I believe there was a fan involved in the book...

(13) This whole chapter is based on a concept on how exactly Sora learned to use Magic. It was explained in the KH manga a bit, but I took a bigger role in expanding it in this story.

Anyways, the reason for Sora and Gabby not using the Keyblade…as the Cheshire Cat said, it was a test to see if the two are worthy to wield the Keyblade…

The Cheshire Cat is to blame for how Sora and his unwanted partner learn Magic. If the Cheshire Cat gave Sora Blizzard (Ice-Magic), I thought it was only appropriate for him to also show him how to use Fire…yeah. Due to this, there shall be no Keyblade-bashings to Heartless for a while…

Sora: You win this round, Darkness-spawned Creatures from HELL! DX

Ahem, moving on…

(14) This is how far the concept of _Alice in Wonderland_ has reached…even the Cheshire Cat is aware of it. Do not ask how he knows, just accept it. This is Wonderland, NOTHING makes sense, so it's best not to ask. Otherwise, you'll just wonder HOW did the Cheshire Cat get clues for the trial? And some other things…how did HE know that Sora needed clues to help Alice in the trial? HOW did HE KNOW about the Heartless?

Yeah, like I said, best NOT to ask.

Also, _American McGee's Alice_ reference galore! It just starts with the Jackbomb, then the cards, and the quotes! X3 I am so in love with this game… Besides, had it not been for this game (and Helloween4545's commentary on his Let's Play…god, he is hilarious) and my imagination, we would just get a boring chapter since I rather hate Wonderland in the first game.

If I do not like it, I can't exactly show my full potential…thus is the way of how KD's writings work!

(15) Another concept that every manga, usually shoujo, has used. I've seen the main female character dressed up as Alice and the main guy as the White Rabbit. Or like in _Otomen_, the main male character was the White Rabbit and his girlfriend was Alice…or he was the Prince and she was Snow White…it's a good shojo manga series! DX

Also, about that, keep in mind that this is something I've only seen in shoujo and this is as far as I can remember…next to _Ouran High School Host Club_. I'm not sure who exactly was the White Rabbit…damn my memory! DX But still…if this were a manga, you would SO see something like that in the cover for the chapter! Trust me, if Kairi had been with Sora, it might've been drawn out…

(16) Yeah, in the book, the Dodo was actually IN the Caucus Race and not just standing about. In there, everyone was running and there was no wave that kept wetting everyone. THAT Caucus Race made some sense in how you would be able to get dry.

Well, that's about it! You know the drill! Review if you like it, if you hate it, give me a FULL reason why and how I could improve it, just DON'T plain say you HATE it…NO FLAMES! And constructive criticism is always accepted because I like to see what I can do to improve. Reviews make my days! :D

Wait patiently for the next chapter…I have an Alice and Wonderland movie to watch for the next chapter. Till next time, KD out! XD


	8. All in the Golden Afternoon

Sora and Gabby looked at their were in a forest…it seemed to them that they were back to square one. The only thing was…the forest lacked signs and Heartless.

_Poof!_

Forget that statement, it seems to Sora and Gabby that they had their work cut out for themselves… Though, feeling a tad bit short on time, Gabby huffed and took out the Jack-in-the-box. She concentrated as she began to channel her energy into the box and turned the crank before…

"Take cover!" she exclaimed as she jumped on Sora and pushed him into the bushes.

Not long afterwards, did the Jack-in-the-box began to play its little melody before—

_Pop!_

Out came Jack spinning around in a 360 degree angle, spouting fire from his mouth as he attacked the Heartless. The Heartless soon burned to their untimely demises and just as a reassurance, the Jack-in-the-box exploded afterwards. Jackbomb…that is what the weapon shall now be called!

Sora and Gabby peered out of the bushes and found the coast was clear…or not, as two identically dressed figures stood shoulder to shoulder by each other. They seemed to be rather round schoolboys, though what confused the two teens was that they knew who the two boys were, just…

"Wait, aren't we in the first book?" Gabby asked Sora.

Sora shrugged as he didn't seemed to know anymore. The two did go through the looking glass, but instead of meeting the White King and Queen, they found themselves to where the Rabbit Hole led to. (1)

Needless to say, after a rather awkward greeting to the two, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Sora and Gabby were being taught what to say the first thing in a visit. Tweedledee and Tweedledum latched their hands together and grabbed onto Sora and Gabby's hands as the two did the same with each other. And so began a rather dizzying moment involving shaking hands and spinning around. It went something like this…

"_How do you do and shake hands,_

_Shake hands, shake hands._

_How do you do and shake hands and state your name and business."_

Tweedledum was certainly a loud one…and so was Tweedledee. Sora and Gabby could do nothing but just land in a heap onto the ground, both slightly disheveled. The two brothers left them dizzy as they both wagged their index fingers at them and said, "That's manners!"

Gabby pulled her hair back and huffed as she helped Sora find his glasses.

"Well, my name is Gabby!" she said. "And he's Sora…oh, there they are!"

Gabby reached behind herself and picked up a pair of glasses, which she placed right on Sora's face. Sora blinked and adjusted them, nodding when they were in the right place.

"We're looking for the White Rabbit," Sora explained as he stood up and helped his friend , he began to drag Gabby in the direction that they last saw the rabbit go in. "So…"

Sora stopped in his tracks as Tweedledee and Tweedledum blocked him.

"You can't go yet!" said Tweedledee.

Tweedledum nodded in agreement as he added, "No, the visit's just started!"

Sora adjusted his glasses. "I'm very sorry, but we're a bit short on time, we have to—"

Tweedledum interrupted Sora and asked, "Do you like to play hide-and-seek?"

Gabby's eyes immediately lit up at this offer. "Do I? I love to!"

As much as Sora kinda liked hide-and-seek, now was _not_ the time! Though, Tweedledee and Tweedledum didn't seem to notice as they split up and hid into the bushes, appearing in many places in the woods all at once. They then offered to play, "Button, button, who's got the button?"

Sora still tried to refuse the offer…especially when Gabby didn't seem to agree with him. How in the hell did he even put up with her at school?

"_Uh…crap, I can't remember," _thought Sora. _"All I know is that she is my potion hoarder…"_

Everything else was just a blur…yet another reason _why_ Sora considered her the last person he'd pick as a partner. Sora let out an exasperated sigh and continued to drag Gabby away with him…only for Tweedledee and Tweedledum to get in their way…yet again. The two held their fists up at each other as if to fight each other.

"If you stay long enough, we might have a battle!" said Tweedledee.

Sora immediately knew then, there was no way to get past Tweedledee and Tweedledum until he and Gabby heard what they had to say…oh, joy. This meant it was story time…

Later,

So many things had happened after story time with Tweedledee and Tweedledum that it wasn't even funny! For one thing, after story time, Sora and Gabby had come across the White Rabbit's house…how did they know that?

The White Rabbit was there to confirm it himself after a misconception involving Gabby, who he mistook for his maid, Mary Ann, ended up…well…

Gabby couldn't resist eating cookies that said "Eat me" on them. She came across a box of these cookies whilst looking for the White Rabbit's gloves. And after eating one, just like in the room with the talking doorknob, she ended up growing into a giant. She practically ruined the White Rabbit's house…oh, and she was mistaken for a monster.

Then the Dodo came along and everything seemed to go downhill after that. Bill the Lizard, a chimney sweep, ended up flying who knows where after an attempt to kill "the monster" went awry. And then came to one point up to where Sora had to act since the Dodo decided that the only way to kill "the monster"…was to _burn_ down the White Rabbit's house!

Now the White Rabbit wasn't too happy with this…and neither was Sora! He was not losing his partner…not after all he went through with Blondie and Lady.

So, to sum up what happened afterward…Sora took out a carrot from the White Rabbit's garden and made Gabby eat it. Luckily for him, this made Gabby shrink and that is why she is now around three to four inches tall! (2)

Sora sighed as he continued to walk down a pathway in the forest. Gabby was not too pleased with everything that had happened…she was mad!

"I hate being small…" she muttered.

Sora's ears twitched as they picked up Gabby's voice. Narrowing his eyes, Sora held up Gabby to his face.

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't eat that cookie!" he said sternly.

Gabby turned away from Sora. "Not my fault the cookie said 'Eat me'…"

Sora sighed and shook his head.

After sometime passing through the forest, once Sora was sure they were far enough; the spiky-haired boy came to a stop and set Gabby to the ground. Gabby crossed her arms and glared at Sora as she was placed down onto the ground.

"Why is it that the most annoying creatures tend to be the ones who almost kill us?" Gabby asked in an irritated manner.

Sora rolled his eyes as he took out a carrot he plucked from the White Rabbit's carrot patch moments after he had shrunk Gabby down to her current size.

"It wasn't that bad, but…" said Sora. "Why is it we can never get anything right at the moments we need them to be right?"

Gabby shrugged. "You tell me."

Sora sighed and bit into the carrot, shrinking moments afterwards to Gabby's near size. Unbeknownst to them, the two weren't exactly alone as watching them with a wide grin, was a very familiar character. They didn't notice his presence until he spoke.

"Why is it you aren't using those two brains of yours to get out of this situation?" he asked.

Sora and Gabby stiffened as they stayed dangerously quiet for a few moments. After a full ten seconds, the two turned around and gave the Cheshire Cat the meanest glare they could make.

"WHY IS IT THAT YOU CAN NEVER GIVE US A STRAIGHT ANSWER?" the two yelled out simultaneously. "WE THOUGHT YOU WERE HERE TO HELP US!" (3)

The Cheshire Cat grinned widely as he greeted the two with his usual grin.

"I've see you two have remarkable harmony," said the Cheshire Cat. "But will it get you to what you need?"

Sora and Gabby calmed down as they stared at the Cheshire Cat. He was the only lead to their escape of this mad world. What now?

"I suppose you know where we have to go next…right?" Gabby asked as she arched her brow at the cat.

The Cheshire Cat nodded. "Indeed…go through the garden and look for the Caterpillar. I'm sure he'll have some advice to help you grow a few."

Looking at each other now, Sora and Gabby couldn't help but notice that maybe a few more inches on them would do well. They were small…too small for comfort and too small for normal. The latter was an understatement, but it's the closest it can get in this world.

"Oh, and the White Rabbit went that way," the Cheshire Cat said, casually pointing out in a direction before fading out.

Sora and Gabby looked at the direction they were pointed in. They didn't bother overlooking it as the Cheshire Cat…it'd be wise not to underestimate him…Ever.

And so the duo continued on their merry way into this hellish mad world. It was peaceful for the moment…until the shadows began to pop out of the ground. Sora immediately took his jacks out of his pocket, a scowl on his face.

"As if I have had enough already, you show up!" Sora exclaimed, throwing his jacks at the Shadows with immense force.

Gabby searched her pockets for her deck of cards, but in her struggle, she ended up dropping them all onto the ground…_all_ of them. They were all scattered all over the floor and there was not a damn thing Gabby could do. And since this was the cards used for 52 Pickup…

Gabby scowled as she muttered, "Damn you karma…"

Because out of all the years she has managed to done it, it had finally come back to her. What comes around, goes around…Gabby had a feeling this was all Tidus's doing as he _always_ fell for her 52 Pickup joke…up to the point where he says she'll have it coming one day.

"And it had to be today!" Gabby exclaimed as she barely dodged an icy spell from a Blizzard-utilizing Heartless.

The Heartless had a black head and a blue body with a similar emblem on its chest that other Heartless seemed to share. It wore a conical, yellow hat with a jagged brim and a thin, curled tip…it looked like a Black Mage…it was like a Black Mage…

But…

"It's Blizzard-based!" Gabby exclaimed as she tried her second attempt at using Fire Magic.

Gabby cupped her hands and began to charge up a flame. Soon the flame grew and formed into a fireball, which was a great improvement from the weak flame she last made. Gabby then held out her hands aimed at the Blizzard-using Heartless.

"Eat Ifrit's Inferno!" exclaimed Gabby. "HA!"

And the fireball shot out…

…

…

…and landed weakly onto the ground as a flickering flame. Gabby stared at the flickering flame on the ground that soon snuffed out, leaving only a small wisp of smoke in its trace. The Blue Rhapsody (as these Black Mage-looking Heartless shall be named) just stared at Gabby, having just gone through a rather intimidating moment only to have end as an anti-climatic moment. It was downright humiliating for Gabby as she could hear Sora's snickering. Her face turned red and she turned on her heel and looked at Sora.

"Not funny!" she exclaimed.

Sora burst into laughter as he threw the jacks at the Blue Rhapsody behind Gabby. He couldn't help it! It was just so pathetic with how intimidating she was trying to make herself! It was even more so when the flame she created died out after barely making it out of her hand. Dear god! She was killing him!

Gabby growled at Sora as she decided to screw the spell casting and pick up her cards off the ground. She managed quickly as the second she picked up a card off the ground…the rest of the cards recollected together and formed back into a deck. Gabby just stared at the deck in her hand, her eyes wide open and her mouth opened wide.

"What…wha…what?" was all she can say as a sudden feeling of rage began to overtake her.

Oh, she did _not_ just have to go through all that embarrassment only to have _this_ happen to her! Oh, no…she felt rage…RAGE! And something sprayed over her that kinda _hurt_, but mostly RAGE! Gabby clenched her teeth as she tightened her fist…she was _so_ not going to go easy on them… (4)

For some odd reason, Sora could feel the aura of rage radiating off Gabby and he could swear her eyes just turned blood red…he felt scared as Gabby roared…yes, she _roared_ or something along the lines that sounded similar to a roar…whatever it was, Sora could tell that Gabby was extremely pissed off as hell. She set her deck on fire by using whatever Fire magic she could cast to set it aflame.

It proved effective on destroying the Blizzard-based Heartless quickly as well as destroying whatever crossed the flying cards' path, such as a rather big-bodied Heartless and a few Soldier Heartless. By the time Gabby had calmed down, the Heartless were gone…most likely frightened off by Gabby's extreme RAGE…or they had been all killed off. It was probably the latter as the Heartless go by instinct to follow the Keyblade Wielders, no matter what.

"How fine you look when dressed in rage," said a voice.

Sora blinked and turned as he saw that it was the Cheshire Cat.

"Your enemies are fortunate your condition is not permanent," he continued on. "You're lucky, too. Red eyes suit so few…"

Gabby blinked a few times and looked at the smoke wafting off into the air from her deck of cards. Surprisingly, her cards were okay, however…

"What the hell just happened?" asked Gabby.

Sora just stared at Gabby, agape and then face-palmed. He seriously did not know how to deal with this…it felt awkward. At least Gabby was back to normal…

"I think you just went through Rage mode…" said Sora.

Gabby blinked and sighed. "Whatever…I am SO not raging anymore…"

It was a very creepy experience for her…

"I see you are managing somewhat with your Magic skills," said the Cheshire Cat. "Keep it up…soon you'll need no use of your JackBomb."

With that said, the Cheshire Cat disappeared, leaving Sora and Gabby alone, yet again. The two sighed and shook their heads.

"This place…my sanity…" Sora said as he clutched his head. "The rabbit ears _still_ don't help…"

Gabby placed her hand on her forehead. "Let's just keep going…the sooner we find Donald and Goofy and help Alice, the faster we can get out of this world…"

Reading about Wonderland was one thing, but experiencing it…that was definitely a different situation.

"I think I liked it back when we were still on the Gummi Ship…" said Sora.

"I'm with ya there…" sighed Gabby. "Let's go…"

Sora nodded and followed after Gabby as they went deeper into the forest. Certainly nothing positive or good would come out of this…

Moments later,

Sora sneezed for the umpteenth time as flowery aroma was too much for his sensitive nose. He rubbed his nose as he sniffed.

"As if the rabbit ears weren't enough, now my nose's also sensitive…" he bemoaned.

Gabby sighed and looked around. She and Sora had come across a meadow full of nothing but flowers…and at their current height and size, the flowers were just massive. Unlike Sora, Gabby liked the aroma, but it was starting to get on her nerves with its sickly sweet scent.

"Gah…" she said. "Let's keep going and…what the?"

Gabby blinked as a very peculiar butterfly passed her. It didn't seem like any butterfly she's seen…in fact, the wings of the butterfly seemed to be buttered bread. More and more of these peculiar butterflies began to flutter about before landing on a blade of grass. The butterflies huddled up together and by the time they stopped fluttering about, they took on the appearance of a whole loaf of bread.

Sora arched his brow at the sight as he scratched the back of his head.

"What curious butterflies…" he said.

"You mean bread-and-butterflies," a warm and motherly voice corrected.

Sora's eyes widened as his ears twitched. He turned to Gabby.

"Did you…hear that?" he asked.

Gabby crossed her arms. "I don't have ears like you, but even I heard that!"

Sora nodded. So he wasn't just hearing things…

"Then who said that?" he asked as he looked around.

The only things he saw were flowers, nothing but them. There was a red rose, an iris, tulips, bluebells, pansies, and other types of flower that Sora couldn't name at the moment. He scratched his head as he stared at the flowers. The red rose stood out the most.

"Huh…nice flowers…" said Sora.

Gabby nodded and blinked as a very peculiar fly flew up to her. It neighed at her right in the face.

"Ah…a horsefly?" she said. "I mean, a _rocking_-horsefly!"

That seemed to fit better since the fly looked like a rocking horse…

"Naturally," the same voice responded.

Gabby turned around and arched her brow at a rather peculiar-looking red rose. It looked like a lady upon closer inspection… If she didn't know any better, that flower just spoke—of course.

"You speak, don't you?" she asked. "Or am I just going mad?"

Sora stared intently at the red rose. That rose had to be the one speaking to him…his ears sensed the voice came right behind him and it was either the red rose or the other flowers who spoke.

The red rose smiled warmly and bent down to their level. "But of course we can speak, my dears."

Sora and Gabby blinked, nodding afterwards.

"Hmph, if there's anyone worth talking to," a haughty voice remarked.

Sora and Gabby turned, somewhat taken aback with the voice. It came from a rather pompous-looking iris. The iris held a vine to her face, almost as if they were her glasses.

"Or about!" a cheery voice added, laughing afterwards.

That time, the voice came from a daisy…a very happy-looking one. By this point, Sora and Gabby weren't surprised about the talking flowers. They read the book and its sequel and there happened to be talking flowers in there as well…only difference, these flowers were actually rather tame. (5)

A patch of pansies seemed to have been caught up in the discussion as they added, "And we sing, too!"

The pansies were the youngest-sounding out of all the flowers…almost as if they were the children of the flower patch. Gabby, rather intrigued by the pansies, walked up to them.

"You do?" she asked.

A trio of tulips seemed to just swarm around Gabby as they rushed to answer her question.

"Oh, yes," said a yellow tulip. "Would you like to hear 'Tell it to the Tulips'?"

A triad of blue flowers leaned in, obviously not pleased with the tulips offer.

"No, let's sing about us!" they interjected.

Two little violets shyly peered out from under a canopy-like leaf.

"We know about the shy little violets…" they suggested in a soft and quiet tone.

A white calla lily pinched her yellow spadix like a nose, using one of her green leaves like a hand.

"Oh, no, not _that_ old thing!" she remarked.

A trumpet lily held her leafy hands together as she suggested, "Let's do 'Lovely Lily at the Valley'!"

Two orange Gerbera daisies jumped into the discussion. "How about the daisies in the—"

The daisies were cut off by a rather bold purple lilac flower. "Oh, she wouldn't like _that_!"

The flowers began to squabble over which song they should sing. As this went on, Sora walked up to Gabby and looked at her sternly.

"See what your curiosity got us into?" he reprimanded. "Now everyone's fighting…"

Gabby laughed nervously. "Ehehe…sorry…"

The red rose sighed and tapped what seemed to be a conducting baton on a music stand. The conducting baton was made up of a brown stem with slightly bloomed rose bud at the tip and the music stand was made out of a peculiarly shaped leaf.

"Girls!" she said, holding her leafy green hands out.

The arguing ceased immediately as all the flowers focused their attention on the red rose. The red rose smiled warmly at them.

"We shall sing: 'Golden Afternoon'," she proposed.

No one seemed to disagree with the red rose with this proposition. The red rose smiled and used her leafy hand to cover the side of her mouth as she directed her gaze on Sora and Gabby.

"That's about all of us!" she explained. "You may want to sit down…"

Sora and Gabby didn't bother saying anything as they made their way towards a row of chair-like leaves. Sora sighed as he lowered a leaf down for Gabby, letting her sit herself down on it. He didn't bother sitting down, he'd rather stand up.

Sora crossed his arms and focused his attention on the flowers. His ears perked up to the sound of a scale being played upon a stringed instrument.

"Sound your A, Lily," said the red rose.

The trumpet lily clasped her leafy hands together as she let out a cheery, _"Laaaa~!"_

"Close enough," said the red rose. (6)

As the trumpet lily continued her note, the pansies were next, each singing at their own interval, _"Mimimimi…"_ before coming to harmonious synchronization.

"_Lalalala,"_ the white daisy sang in an upbeat tempo.

The purple iris sang her note in a haughty tone. "_Hahahahahahaha…_"

A group of chrysanthemums took to singing the lower voices. _"Poem, poem poem, poem poem poem poem poem…"_

It was there that all the flowers began to sing together as a group, with the red rose conducting the tempo of the piece. The bread-and-butterflies separated from its loaf, one by one, as they flew towards a row of lilies that were moving side to side. A few of the bread-and-butterflies fluttered close to the tulips, stopping momentarily in midair as they kissed the tulips.

"_Little bread-and-butterflies kiss the tulips_

_And the sun is like a toy balloon"_

The bread-and-butterflies fluttered away from the tulips, one of them leaving a pink tulip with a parting kiss. The bread-and-butterflies made their way over a group of unopened blue flowers. One of the bread-and-butterflies shook a blue flower a few times before fluttering away. The flower woke up immediately, its petals unraveling into full bloom as it yawned.

"_There are get-up-in-the-morning glories"_

Sunlight began to shine through, waking up the rest of the morning glories.

"_In the golden afternoon"_

The red rose smiled as she diverted her attention onto a group of yellow daffodils. The bread-and-butterflies flew over the daffodils, catching their attention. A daffodil tried to slap a bread-and-butterfly, but managed to slap a nearby daffodil instead. The daffodil who was slapped, dizzily retaliated with a slap of its own, practically making the other daffodil spin after being slapped.

"_There are dizzy daffodils on the hillside  
Strings of violets are all in tune"_

Sora found Gabby moving her hands in tempo to the song. He chuckled as he looked away, his attention falling upon a dandelion with its leafy arm around a tiger lily. The tiger lily turned and placed a large, audible kiss on the dandelion's face.

"_Tiger lilies love the dandelions"_

The dandelion looked ecstatically at the tiger lily, who was looking away, shyly, with a smile on its face.

"_In the golden afternoon_

_(In the golden afternoon)"_

The red rose frowned as a rocking-horsefly landed on her baton. She waved her baton, shaking off the rocking-horsefly.

A caterpillar with the face of a dog crawled over on a leaf towards a sleeping caterpillar, located upon an upper leaf just above the dog-faced caterpillar. The sleeping caterpillar had a face of a cat and when the dog-faced caterpillar woke it up, the cat-faced caterpillar hissed at it, the fuzz on its back raised up.

"_There are dog and caterpillars and a copper centipede"_

The rocking-horsefly flew past the two caterpillars, moving up. Both caterpillars looked up as the daisy, whose leave's they were standing on, yawned. The tempo of the song slowed down as the rocking-horsefly flew over to another daisy, who was sleeping on a spider-web hammock. The daisy lazily swatted the rocking-horsefly away after it got too close to its face.

"_Where the lazy daisies love the very peaceful life_

_They~ lead…"_

Sora felt rather sleepy as he stared at the lazy daisies, the tone of the song not being much help. Gabby covered her mouth as she yawned, her expression going dreamy as she stared dopily at the flowers. Even the red rose couldn't suppress a yawn.

The red rose smiled as she conducted a change in tempo, her attention focused on the pansies.

"_You can learn a lot of things from the flowers_

_For especially in the month of June"_

The red rose turned and signaled her baton at a white rose. The white rose was separate from the rest of the flowers, holding a different appearance then the rest. She was very beautiful, surrounded by a canopy of a finally spun spider web. Dewdrops decorated the spider web as well as the white rose, adding to her look of pristine beauty and grace. All of the flowers had stopped singing as the white rose sang her solo. The white rose held her leafy hands together.

"_There's a wealth of happiness and romance"_

The flowers joined the white rose for the next line, but they did so quietly as to not overpower the white rose's voice.

"_All in the golden afternoon"_

Sora and Gabby turned as the sound of chiming bells caught their attention. The white daisy had been shaking a stem full off bell-like flowers, causing the chiming bell-sounds. The red rose turned as she cued a group of pink and purple flowers. The pink and purple flowers played a tune with a sound similar to a group of flutes.

The red rose cued another group of flowers. This time, the flowers were yellow and resembled brass instruments, even sounding like them as well. The red rose then turned over to the pompous-looking iris.

The iris smiled as she proudly played a tune on a flower that resembled a harp, using the flower's filaments as the stringed-part of the instrument. However, despite the flower's resemblance to a harp, its sound was similar to that of a cello.

The red rose covered her mouth as she yawned. A group of bread-and-butterflies fluttered past the red rose, making their way towards Sora and Gabby. Sora and Gabby found themselves being tugged on by the bread-and-butterflies. The bread-and-butterflies pulled the two towards the patch of pansies.

The pansies smiled at Sora and Gabby as they moved aside, making room for the two.

"_All in the golden afternoon,_

_The golden afternoon"_

All of the flowers, save for those playing the music, stopped singing as they stared intently at Sora and Gabby. The tempo of the song slowed down as well. The red rose smiled as she signaled her baton at the two, gesturing that it was their turn to sing. Sora resisted the urge to make a face as he didn't want to sing.

The pansies urged the two to sing as they used their leafy hands to nudge Sora and Gabby. Sora still wouldn't budge, however, Gabby…

Gabby smiled a bit as she clasped her hands together, her attention focused on the pansies as a few of them mouthed the lyrics for her.

"_You can learn a lot of things from the flowers"_

Sora stared wide-eyed at Gabby, shocked. This was around the first time he had _ever_ heard her sing. Gabby looked at Sora and her smile widened as she continued on, her gaze diverting onto the many pansies for the lyrics.

"_For especially in the month of June"_

Sora blinked as he realized everyone was now looking at him. It was his turn, whether he liked it or not. Inhaling and exhaling shakily, Sora finally sang his part.

"_There's a wealth of happiness and romance"_

The red rose smiled sweetly as she continued to conduct. The iris, though very reluctant to even admit it, was impressed with Sora's singing as well as his partner. However, her reluctance to accept the two was shown as she shook her head in disapproval. The daisy was taken aback with the iris's disapproval as she thought the two just sounded lovely…especially Sora.

"_All—"_ Sora's eyes widened as his singing came to an abrupt stop. He covered his mouth with his hands, his cheeks faintly red from embarrassment. His voice had just cracked, causing him to sound very off-key. (7)

The pansies flinched at Sora's sudden off-key voice. It had been a real slap in the face after hearing something so peaceful and beautiful… Gabby clenched her teeth as she stared at Sora.

The red rose smiled as she placed her free hand on what may have been her chest. She used her other hand to cue the rest of the flowers to finish off Sora's unfinished line.

"_In the golden afternoon"_

The white rose had the last word in the song as her voice trilled it in a beautiful pitch.

The pansies smiled at Sora, who was very much embarrassed about his…mistake. Gabby covered her mouth as she laughed at Sora, placing her hand on his shoulder. Sora diverted his eyes on Gabby, not pleased with how amusing she found this.

"_Not funny…"_ he thought.

The red rose directed her baton at a yellow daisy. The yellow daisy held up two of her other flowers as she brought them together (at the signal of the cue from the red rose), creating the sound of a cymbal crash. Yellow flower petals fluttered around the daisy as she smiled, her own petals somewhat disheveled.

The red rose bowed as Gabby applauded her. Sora joined along after getting elbowed in the side by her.

"That was lovely!" said Gabby.

Gabby blinked as the red rose placed her leafy hand under her chin.

"Thank you, my dear," said the red rose.

The white daisy placed her leafy hand on her stem. "What kind of garden do you two come from?"

Sora blinked. "Oh, we don't come from—"

Sora was cut off as Gabby's hand clapped over his mouth.

"This garden!" she finished. "Ours is far away near the ocean…"

The white daisy looked at Gabby and Sora questioningly as she pushed her leaves on the purple iris. "Do you suppose these two are wild flowers?"

Gabby shook her head. "Nononono, we're not wild flowers…right, Sora?"

Sora looked sternly at Gabby, not pleased with her hand that was _still_ over his mouth. Gabby smiled at the white daisy as she stepped on Sora's foot.

Sora yelped and glared at Gabby, who just whispered, "Nod, dammit…"

Sora blinked and nodded along, his gaze now on the white daisy. The red rose smiled as she placed her arm around Gabby.

"Just what specie, or shall we say, genus, are you, my dear?" asked the red rose.

Gabby blinked a few times and looked at Sora, taking her hand off of his mouth.

"Let's see…the name slips my head…" Sora said. "But we are flowers…"

The daisy placed her hand on her stem as she spoke to the iris, pointing at Sora and Gabby.

"Ever seen a pair of flowers with a blossom like that?" she asked.

The iris diverted her eyes on the daisy as she gestured at the two. "Come to think of it, have you ever seen a pair of flowers like that?"

The white daisy gawked. "Yes, and did you notice their petals—hers specifically! What a peculiar color!"

Gabby blinked and looked down at herself, spreading out her skirt a bit. The iris moved in closer to Gabby and grabbed some of her hair, sniffing it. Gabby immediately distanced herself from the iris and hid behind Sora.

The iris looked at Gabby. "Not much fragrance, but it's there."

"Sora…I don't like this…" she whispered. "Why am I the only one getting critiqued?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Oh, c'mon, it's not that bad…"

The white daisy laughed as she picked up the back of Gabby's skirt and pointed at her legs.

"Just look at those stems!" laughed the white daisy.

The iris sneered. "Rather scrawny, I'd say."

Gabby turned around and pulled her skirt out of the daisy's grip, her face now very red. She turned to Sora.

"You were saying?" she retorted.

Sora adjusted his glasses. "I stand by corrected…"

"I think she's pretty!" a rosebud exclaimed.

The rosebud was silenced by a leaf from the red rose.

"Quiet, bud," said the red rose.

…

…

"I'd say she seems exotic," the red rose said as she placed her arm around Gabby.

Sora could hear whispering among the rest of the flowers.

"_Rather gossipy…"_ he thought.

The flowers were all speculating just what kind of exotic flower Gabby could be. Sora didn't notice the iris closing in on him until his ears picked up the sound of sniffing. Sora blinked and turned around slowly, finding himself being smelled by the iris.

"Your fragrance is stronger than hers," the iris remarked.

"And your petals aren't that peculiarly colored…" said the daisy. "Are you a poppy? Maybe a rose…?"

The iris shook her head. "He has no thorns…and I'd say he looks more like a lily. Look at those filaments!"

The iris grabbed a hold of Sora's ears. The daisy blinked and looked closely at Sora.

"Why, I say," said the daisy. "I think you're right…but what kind of lily lives near the ocean?"

Sora's eye twitched slightly. He did not like having his ears touched…and he could hear the rest of the flowers change the subject from Gabby to him when it came to just what type of flower _he_ was.

"Probably a lily that can strive in the tropics…" said the iris.

Sora blinked, his eyes widening as an idea popped up in mind.

"I remember now!" said Sora. "I'm a hibiscus." (8)

The red rose smiled at Sora. "Are you? That would explain your bright showy color…and what of your exotic friend?"

Sora looked at Gabby and placed his hand on his head.

"_Damn…this would be easier if she wasn't here…"_ he thought.

And for Sora, that would not be possible as he was stuck with Gabby. He couldn't ditch her or anything, otherwise Blondie and Lady will be sad…Sora sighed and shook his head.

"_Okay, think…Mom had a flower garden…"_ he thought. _"Blue flowers…blue flowers… blue…"_

Lavender was out of the question since Gabby's dress was nowhere near close to violet. Forget-me-nots…

"_In consideration…"_ he thought. _"Okay…cornflowers?"_

Waaay too common…if Sora recalled, he saw a few on the way through the meadow. The flowers would most likely see through that. And the red rose called Gabby exotic, meaning it had to be a flower that was also exotic.

"_What kind of flowers did Mom have that were blue and exotic…"_ thought Sora. _"Hold on…of course!"_

From what he could remember, Hikari had made a recent addition to her garden just a year or so ago. The flower was not native on the islands and was actually a gift from the mayor for her hard work helping out with the Tonberry extermination…

"_Okay, now I feel sad and scared…"_ thought Sora.

Sora was sad that he still hadn't found his mother…and he was scared because he remembered his near-death experience with a Tonberry. Now to classify Gabby!  
"My friend is a Thelymitra," said Sora.

The red rose smiled. "Oh, a sun orchid…do you hear that, girls?"

The daisy tilted her head to the side as she looked at Gabby. "A sun orchid…that would explain your peculiarly colored petals!"

The iris stared at Gabby and smirked. "Hmph…obviously not a fragrant one, though…it seems the Hibiscus's scent has rubbed off on you."

Gabby blinked and scratched the back of her head. _"That or we use the same shampoo…oh!"_

Gabby smirked as she turned to Sora. Sora looked nervously at Gabby.

"What?" he said. (9)

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as Gabby continued to stare at him. Sora laughed nervously as he turned away from her. He sighed as he could still hear the rest of the flowers gossiping.

"_Hate these ears…"_ he thought.

"Not to be rude, but what kind of Thelymitra is she?" asked iris.

Sora looked at the iris. "She's a Blue Lady Orchid." (10)

"Oh, a lady…" remarked the iris. "Heh, she has a long way to go before she could even be called a lady."

Gabby blinked a few times and scowled at the iris. "Hey!"

"My point exactly," said the iris.

"Maybe she's just young," suggested a tulip.

"Or she still hasn't reached full bloom," suggested another flower.

Sora sighed as the gossip began yet again.

"_I swear, these flowers…"_ he thought. _"Hold on…just how long have we been here?"_

Talk about losing track of time, these flowers!

"If you don't mind me asking, but have you seen a white rabbit?" Sora asked quickly.

The red rose looked at Sora questioningly and nodded. "I believe I saw one run by some time ago…he went that way, if you're wondering."

Sora nodded and grabbed Gabby's hand. "It was nice talking to you ladies…lovely performance by the way, especially the white rose."

The white rose smiled at Sora, taking his praise to appreciation.

"Well, we gotta go!" Sora said as he began to drag Gabby along in the direction the red rose said the White Rabbit had gone.

"Where are you going?" asked the pansies.

Gabby blinked and looked back at the pansies. "We're going to look for our friends!"

"Good luck!" the white daisy said as she waved.

"Farewell," said the iris.

The pansies waved at Sora and Gabby. "Bye bye!"

The red rose smiled at Sora and Gabby as she waved at them. "Don't be a stranger…you're always welcomed to come in this garden!"

And with that said, Sora and Gabby disappeared into the vast vegetation.

…

…

"I swear, those flowers…" said Sora. "How long have we been in there?"

"I have no clue…I kinda lost track of time," said Gabby. "But seriously, I hate that iris…"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, she was rather stuck up…by the way, thanks for improvising."

"I'm not really Alice, but I know better than to get on a flower's bad side…" said Gabby. "By the way, back there when we were singing…did your voice crack?" (11)

Sora looked away from Gabby as he tried to hide the blush tingeing his cheeks. Gabby smirked at Sora.

"Looks like someone's voice is changing~!" teased Gabby. "Heh, remember the time I thought Riku was sick, but really, it was just his voice cracking?"

Sora blinked a few times and started laughing. "Oh, yeah…man, that was hilarious!"

"And remember Wakka?" Gabby asked.

…

"I got nothing," said Sora. "I can't be bothered to remember that."

"Lulu told me Selphie practically gave him hell when that happened," said Gabby. "I wonder how you'll sound…"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face. He actually didn't take too much to this. His voice cracking really took him by surprise…

"I wonder where that caterpillar is…" he said. "Huh?"

Sora blinked as his glasses showed him another vision, once again, of Donald and Goofy, only this time…they were accompanied by a little blonde-haired girl.

"Alice!" said Sora. "The Cheshire Cat was right! She is with them!"

Gabby blinked and snatched Sora's glasses off his face. "Let me see…"

"Hey!" snapped Sora.

"You're right!" said Gabby. "Oh…"

Sora snatched his glasses back from Gabby and placed them back on. He sighed as the vision was now gone.

"Well, at least they're okay…" he said.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah…do you hear something?"

Sora's ears twitched as they picked up a sound. It was nearby, or so it seemed…but it close enough for Sora to pick up the sound and—

"Is that singing?" he exclaimed.

Oh, god no…Sora had had just about enough of singing…especially after his voice cracked. Gah…

"_I'm probably never gonna let that go…"_ he thought, sighing.

"Where's it coming from?" asked Gabby.  
Sora looked at Gabby as his ears twitched. "I think it's up ahead…"

Gabby nodded and grabbed onto Sora's hand. "C'mon, stop moping!"

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Nehh…"

…

Okay, by now, Sora was officially aware that whatever sound he had picked up was singing.

"_Oh, joy…"_ he thought. "At least we haven't run into any Heartless…"

"True that…" said Gabby. "I wonder who's singing…"

"I don't care, I just want nothing to do with singing," said Sora.

Gabby stopped and turned to Sora. "Are you still not over your voice cracking? Look, Riku said that it was going to happen eventually, just get used to it."

"Shut up!" snapped Sora. "You don't know what it's like to have your voice suddenly crack on you!"

Gabby blinked. "I wonder…will my voice crack?"

Sora sighed as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. _"Wakka…why didn't you explain it to her…tell me? Why?"_

Sora was at a loss with answering Gabby's question. It was just out of his league…now if she had asked Wakka—that would've been different…

"Ask Wakka when we find him," said Sora. "Because, really, I have no clue…"

Gabby nodded. "Okay…"

"_Wakka's gonna hate me for that…"_ thought Sora. _"Still…it'll SO be worth it…"_

…

Sora and Gabby looked around. The singing was now very clear…well, it had been for Sora for quite some time, but it was now clear for both him _and_ Gabby.

"_Zoom Golly-Golly-Golly, Zoom Golly-Golly_

_Zoom Golly-Golly-Golly, Zoom Golly-Golly"_

Sora pushed away a few leaves and peered through, his ears listening intently for the direction in which the singing came from.

"_My dream caravan has a thousand beautiful dreams._

_Each night I behold any dream I wish to receive."_

Sora's ears twitched. "Okay, this way."

Sora pushed back the leaves, unknowingly letting one slap Gabby in the face as he made his way through. Gabby rubbed her face as she followed after Sora.

"_Can I go through anything without my face getting hurt?"_ she thought.

SLAP!

Gabby's eyes narrowed as she stared straight ahead, having gotten another slap to the face, only this time…by a rather thick leaf with a _sturdy_ stem.

"_Of course…"_ she thought.

"_Zoom Golly-Golly-Golly, Zoom Golly-Golly_

_Zoom Golly-Golly-Golly, Zoom Golly-Golly"_

The singing voice was getting louder and louder as Sora and Gabby made their way through the thick vegetation.

"_My dreams come and go, as the smoke rings fire and haze,_

_Strange visions appear as they chant this weird serenade."_

Sora pushed away more leaves, blinking as he voice the source of the singing. Lying upon a rather big mushroom, was a blue caterpillar. The caterpillar was smoking a long hookah, exhaling a large stream of smoke from its mouth every few moments or so.

"_Zoom Golly-Golly-Golly, Zoom Golly-Golly_

_Zoom Golly-Golly-Golly, Zoom Golly-Golly"_

Sora gestured at Gabby and the two made their way towards the caterpillar.

"_ZOOM!_

_ZOOM!_

_ZOOM!"_ (12)

The blue caterpillar leaned on a rather sturdy leaf as he placed the hookah in his mouth. He was unaware of the stares that Sora and Gabby gave him…that was until he so much as glanced at the two. He took the hookah out of his mouth and looked at the two.

"Who are YOU?" he asked in a languid, sleepy voice.

Sora and Gabby looked at each other.

…

Gabby sighed and shook her head…this was going to be confusing.

"I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir," she said. "Because I'm not myself you see."

"I don't see," said the Caterpillar.

Sora placed his hand on his head. "I'm afraid she can't put it more clearly… I can't understand it myself to begin with…"

Gabby crossed her arms and nodded. "Being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing."

"It isn't," said the caterpillar.

Sora blinked and nodded. "Well, actually, that's probably just you. Because you had to go and eat that damn cake…"

"It said 'Eat me'!" snapped Gabby. "Ahem…I'm sure you don't understand just yet, caterpillar…but when you have to turn into a chrysalis—you will someday, you know—and then after that, into a butterfly, I should think you'll feel it a little queer, won't you?"

"Not a bit," the caterpillar just said.

"Well, perhaps your feelings may be different," said Gabby. "All I know is, it would feel very queer to ME."

"You!" the Caterpillar said contemptuously. "Who are YOU?"

Sora tugged on his ears. "Gabby, stop quoting the book! You're making this too confusing for comfort!" (13)

Gabby looked at Sora. "How else am I supposed to talk to him?"

Sora tightened his fists as he snapped, "Just ask!"

Gabby made a face as she blew out a strand of her hair that got in her face. "Fine…"

The Caterpillar placed his hookah back in his mouth, removing it only to let out a stream of smoke…which went right into Gabby's face. Gabby coughed a few times, fanning away the smoke.

"_Rude, much!"_ she thought as she coughed. "Ahem…do you know how to grow a few inches?"

"Why?" asked the caterpillar.

"Because I am uncomfortably small…" replied Gabby.

…

"What size do you want to be?" asked the Caterpillar.

"I'm not particular as to size, so long as I am taller than what I am," Gabby replied. "One doesn't like changing size so often, you know."

"I DON'T know," said the caterpillar.

"And neither do I because, unlike you, I don't eat food that says 'Eat me'!" remarked Sora.

Gabby turned to Sora. "Oh, go to hell!"

"_Already there…"_ he thought.

"Are you content now?" asked the Caterpillar.

Gabby blinked and turned to the Caterpillar. "Well, I should like to be a little larger, sir, if you wouldn't mind. I'm not used to being smaller than I'm usually am…three inches is such a wretched height to be."

"It is a very good height indeed!" the Caterpillar said angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke.

Sora had his palm to his face. "Gabby, you dumbass…do you not remember that he is exactly three inches tall?"

Gabby laughed nervously as she quickly added, "For me! I mean no offense to you! I'm just not used to it!"

"You'll get used to it in time," the Caterpillar replied.

Gabby frowned. "But time is something we don't have!"

The Caterpillar didn't respond as he placed the hookah back in his mouth and started smoking again.

…

…

…

After a minute or two, the Caterpillar took the hookah out of his mouth and yawned, before shaking himself. He got down off the mushroom, and crawled away into the grass, merely remarking as he went, "One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter."

Sora tilted his head to the side. "Of what?"

"Of the mushroom," the Caterpillar replied.

The Caterpillar then disappeared into the grass, leaving Sora and Gabby to figure out which side was which. (14)

…

…

"Crap," Sora swore. "Which side's which?"

Gabby looked questioningly at the mushroom the caterpillar had been on. "Huh…Sora, help me up…"

Sora sighed and walked over to Gabby. "If anything, you'll be the one testing out which one's which…right?"

Gabby looked at Sora with a deadpanned expression. "What do you think?"

"Of course," Sora sighed. "Try not to get yourself killed, this time…"

Sora helped Gabby climb onto the mushroom, allowing her to get a better look of the mushroom.

"Okay…one side makes you grow taller and one side makes you grow shorter…" she said, tearing off a piece of the mushroom from the left and then a piece from the right.

Gabby handed the pieces to Sora. "Don't eat it yet…"

Sora nodded. "Understood."

Gabby sighed as she tore off two pieces from the mushroom. She looked at the one in her left hand and then at the one in her right hand.

"Ah, screw it," she said, taking a bite out of the mushroom piece in her right hand. "I'm tired of being only three inches high-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!"

Gabby felt herself grow taller and taller at a rather fast interval. Her head was sticking out of the treetops by the time she had stopped growing. She blinked as she heard a scream just above her head and looked up. A bird wearing a pink cap and glasses was on the top of her head inside a nest.

The bird adjusted her glasses and looked down, immediately shrieking as she caught sight of Gabby.

"Ah, a serpent!" the bird shrieked as she literally jumped out of her nest. "Help! Serpent! Serpent!"

Gabby narrowed her eyes at the bird as it flew right in front of her face, shrieking at her.

"Off with you!" the bird screamed. "Shoo! Shoo! Go away! Serpent! Serpent!"

"_Oh, for the love of…"_ thought Gabby. "Will you shut up? I do not want your eggs! All I want is to get back to my normal size! Please, oh, please…go away…Sora, you better not be looking up!

…

Sora was definitely not looking up, no…he was hiding under the mushroom. Well, now he knew the mushroom piece in his left hand (Gabby's right hand) was the one that made him grow larger. He'd wait sometime after to grow…for now, he just decided to let Gabby sort out her height problem.

…

Gabby ignored the shrieking bird as she held up the mushroom pieces.

"Okay, righty made me grow…so lefty will make me shrink…" she said.

The bird was collecting her eggs in a fit of anger as she decided to move somewhere else.

"A very idea!" she said. "Spend all my time laying eggs, for serpents like her!"

Gabby continued to ignore the bird as she bit off a small piece of the mushroom in her left hand. Immediately, she shrank down, taking the bird by surprise as it, its nest, and its eggs, dropped down. The bird's nest landed right in between a forked branch, with the bird still inside. The bird's eggs, on the other hand, were still in the air.

The bird scrambled to catch all of her eggs, managing to call nearly all but one, with her hands. She had to use her foot to catch the last, which she had barely managed. The bird looked down afterwards, with a scornful look on her face.

Sora stared at agape at where his partner once stood. She was most likely at a very small size right now… An idea popped up in mind as Sora held up the mushroom in his left hand.

"Hmm…" he said, barely licking the mushroom.

Sora's eyes widened as he shot up, growing rapidly. Within a blink of an eye, he stopped growing. Sora looked around, smiling when he found himself at a rather comfortable size.

As for Gabby…well, she was even smaller than she previously was before eating the mushroom piece that made her grow big. This was obviously not a comfortable size for her…and neither was Sora's size! Gabby clutched her chest as she stared at Sora. He just suddenly grew…it took her by surprise.

…

Sighing, Gabby pocketed the piece of mushroom in her left hand. She held up the other piece to her face.

"_If a small piece makes me grow really big, how do I…" _she thought._ "Maybe…"_

Very lightly, Gabby licked the mushroom. Immediately, she grew up, stopping when she reached size nearly similar to Sora's size (she was still shorter than him by a few inches). Sora backed up a bit, somewhat surprised with Gabby's sudden appearance.

"Much better!" exclaimed Gabby. "Huh, Sora?"

Sora was staring wide-eyed at her for no apparent reason.

"Gah…" he said. "Okay, that's it…we are SO not doing that anymore."

Gabby couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, but still, we should save the mushroom pieces for later, ya know."

Sora sighed and nodded. "Let's go…"

…

After the whole mushroom scenario, Sora and Gabby had found themselves just outside the Duchess's house. And now, being Alice in this whole fiasco, Gabby _had_ to drag Sora inside the Duchess's estate. It was the worst experience ever for both of them…

The whole place smelled like pepper, the Duchess's baby was both loud and sneezing a lot, and the Duchess's cook didn't make the whole essence of excessive pepper any better. And then there was the "lullaby" the Duchess sang when she was nursing her baby…

The Duchess even _threw_ her baby at Gabby when she left the brunette in charge of nursing the baby in order to get ready for a croquet game with the Queen. It was quite disturbing…but it wasn't much of a surprise since this was exactly what happened in the book.

So when Sora dragged Gabby, who still had the baby, he wasn't surprised to see the baby turn into a pig, which brought up the remarked from Gabby:

"Alice was right," she said. "The baby _does_ make a rather handsome pig." (15)

And that was that of the Duchess's baby, which was now somewhere off within the forest…as a pig.

…

Sora sneezed again for the umpteenth time. His nose was burning…and he _still_ smelled like pepper!

"_Never_ again, are we going to the Duchess!" he exclaimed. "Speak roughly to your little boy, and beat him when he sneezes…"

"He only does it to annoy because he knows it teases!" Gabby cheerfully added.

Sora diverted his eyes on Gabby. "I was being derisive…seriously, who beats up a baby?"

Gabby blinked and was about to say something, but Sora cut her off.

"Any example you give is beside the point," he said.

Gabby crossed her arms and huffed. "Killjoy…"

Sora ignored Gabby as he scratched the back of his head. "When we get back on the Gummi Ship…I am _so_ taking a shower…"

Because the smell of pepper was _really_ getting on his last nerve…

…

…

Sora looked around the forest of signs and narrowed his eyes. Somehow, he and Gabby had made it back to where they had first started in this mad place…luckily for them, that wasn't the room with the doorknob.

"This again?" exclaimed Sora. "Okay, Cat! Where to, now—god dammit!"

Sora scowled as Heartless began to appear in the forest.

"Oh, I knew this was too good to be true!" he exclaimed.

After an amazing set of three scenarios, Sora and Gabby had yet to encounter any Heartless…until now. And he was just getting used to the lack of Heartless encounters…

"Okay, I'll get the Jackbomb, ready!" exclaimed Gabby. "I mean, look at all those Blizzard-based Heartless!"

Sora looked around and noticed the quantity of Blue Rhapsodies. "Point taken…"

Gabby grinned and took out the Jackbomb. She turned the crank a few times and then just dropped the box. She immediately pushed Sora behind a tree with herself as Jack popped out of the box and started spouting fire at the Heartless.

However, unlike last time, Jack didn't stay out too long enough to complete his 360 degree angle. He stopped at 270 degrees before popping back into his box. Gabby started at the Jackbomb, agape.

"What?" she exclaimed.

Sora sighed. "The Cheshire Cat said that every time we use it, it'll get much harder and harder with every use."

Gabby looked at Sora. "I didn't think he meant THAT! It only took out half of the Heartless!"

Sora shook his head and took out his jacks. "Just get your deck ready…we have some Heartless to kill. Hold on…I'm gonna try something."

Sora put his jacks away as he dashed out from behind the tree. "I hope this works…!"

Sora held out his palms and began to concentrate, his mind centered on something hot and burning…

"Fire!" he exclaimed.

Sora's eyes widened as he stared at the perfect fireball that shot out of his hand at a Blue Rhapsody. The Blue Rhapsody was engulfed in flames after the fireball came in contact with it. Sora stared at the burning Blue Rhapsody, agape.

"Wha…wha…what?" he said.

"Did you just cast a Fire spell…and actually succeeded?" asked Gabby.

Sora nodded his head. "I think I just did…whoa…"

Gabby frowned. "Lucky! All I have is cards and all I can cast is a weak flame…hmm…"

Gabby stared at the cards in her hands.

…

…

"I should've thought of this earlier!" Gabby exclaimed as she flicked flaming cards at Heartless.

Sora resisted the urge to face-palm…he had seen Gabby do this exact same trick in Rage mode, only this time…she was actually aware of it. It took her this long to even think of this…

"You are _so_ slow…" he said. "Even your Rage mode is smarter than _that_!"

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Sora. "Shut up!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Whatever…holy crap, that's one fat Heartless!"

Sora stared wide-eyed at a rather massive (in both height and width) Heartless. It looked rather slow, but that may have been because it was asleep…the nose bubble inflating and deflating out of one of its nostrils noting that.

"_That thing has a nose?"_ is what Sora thought.

Sora shook his head and took out his jacks. Now, he could only hope that the jacks packed a punch…

"_If not, I am so screwed…"_ thought Sora.

…

Sora and Gabby were panting heavily as they stood side by side. The two were rather disheveled, their hair mussed up with strands sticking out in various directions. Gabby's cards were smoking…literally, and Sora's jacks…well, he was amazed he still had any.

That fat Heartless actually took a lot out of them…

"Remind me to never use jacks on the fat ass…" said Sora. "I don't think they do much damage…"

Gabby nodded. "I'll keep that in mind…wanna trade weapons?"

Sora diverted his eyes on Gabby. "Hell no!"

Gabby frowned. "Darn…"

Sora sighed and ran his hand through his hair, narrowing his eyes when his fingers brushed against his ears.

"I really hate these ears…" he muttered. "Also, I know you're there, Cat…show yourself!"

The Cheshire Cat appeared on a tree branch, wearing a wide grin on his face.

"Perceptive, aren't you?" asked the Cheshire Cat. "Has your magical ability improved?"

"Actually, I can cast Fire, now," said Sora.

The Cheshire Cat nodded his head. "Good…and what of you?"

Gabby crossed her arms. "I'm still at a weak flame…but I can improvise."

"You are learning, I see," said the Cheshire Cat. "I believe you two deserve a reward for your progress…"

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and a sharp-looking knife appeared right in front of Sora. Sora looked wide-eyed at the knife as he took it.

"The Vorpal Blade?" he said.

Gabby frowned. "No fair, I wanted that weapon!"

The Cheshire Cat grinned. "Rest assured, you're also accounted for."

Gabby blinked as a hobby horse appeared in front of her. She gripped the hobby horse's stick with one hand, her eyes widening as she found the hobby horse _heavy_. This took her by surprise as the hobby horse's head dropped onto the ground with a loud "THUD!".

"How…much…does this…thing _weigh_?" exclaimed Gabby. "A fricken' Hobby Horse…"

Gabby grunted as she tried to lift up the Hobby Horse. It took her a few times until she managed to pick it up by using both of her hands. Though, she didn't last long in keeping her balance as she wielded the Hobby Horse, its heavy weight throwing her off.

THUD!

Gabby stared wide-eyed at the sky as she gripped the Hobby Horse's stick. She had just landed on her back…

"Where am I?" she asked.

Sora blinked a few times. "You're still in Wonderland…do you need any help?"

Gabby shook her head and immediately got off the ground. She grunted as she picked up the Hobby Horse.

"No…I'm…perfectly fine!" she exclaimed, tottering a bit to the side as she held the Hobby Horse. "By the way…I don't recall there ever being a Hobby Horse in the game!"

The Cheshire Cat grinned. "Try the sequel…"

Sora blinked a few times. "That's right…that demo we got off a magazine!"

Gabby grinned. "I can't wait for it to come out—Waugh!" (16)

THUD!

Gabby blinked again as she found herself back on the ground. She narrowed her eyes. "Okay, Cat…will you please explain _why_ you gave me the Hobby Horse instead of a croquet mallet or the Vorpal Blade?"

"You need balance…" replied the Cheshire Cat. "You have the strength, but not the balance to wield it to its full potential." (17)

"That's because she's short," Sora remarked.

Gabby growled. "That's fun-sized!"

"No excuse…" said the Cheshire Cat. "You need to overcome that obstacle in your way…and for that, you get the Hobby Horse. Learn how to wield it…"

Gabby grunted as she tried to pick up the Hobby Horse. "I'll…try! Gah…heavy…"

Sora sighed. He made a mental note to watch his partner's back…that Hobby Horse was most likely going to get her in trouble.

"And if you're wondering where the White Rabbit is…I'd ask the Mad Hatter," said the Cheshire Cat.

Sora blinked a few times. "Huh…?"

"Or, there's the March Hare…in that direction," the Cheshire Cat said, pointing in a direction. "Of course, he's mad, too."

Gabby frowned as she held the Hobby Horse, having just managed to wield it without it throwing off her balance. "But I don't want to go among the mad people!"

She had had enough! Especially with the damn Hobby Horse she had!

The Cheshire Cat grinned widely. "Oh, you can't help that. Almost everyone is mad here. Ha…ha ha ha ha ha! You may have noticed that I'm not all there, myself."

The Cheshire Cat's body began to disappear, his stripes and his head still visible. His stripes then began to slowly unravel, like ribbons, disappearing along with his body until it was just his head. The Cheshire Cat laughed, his nose going from green to pink as his head began to disappear. All that was left, was his nose, eyes, and grin, until the first two disappeared, leaving behind just the grin.

After a few moments, the Cheshire's grin disappeared.

…

…

"Obviously," Sora suddenly said. "Okay, now let's go."

Gabby sighed. "Fine…wait, this is the tea party part, isn't it?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Gabby grinned. "I loved the tea party!"

Sora narrowed his eyes. "I don't…"

"Hey, it's our unbirthday!" Gabby brought up.

Sora sighed. "True…let's get moving…you need any help?"

Sora stared at Gabby as he noticed the difficulty she had taking a step with the Hobby Horse.

"No…shut up!" she snapped. "I can move on my own—waugh!"

THUD!

Sora winced as he watched Gabby land flat on her face. This was gonna take a while…

* * *

A/N End of chapter! Date of Final Revamp: 11-6-11

I know this chapter is short, but hey! Gotta save something for the next chapter…which I hope will be the last of the Wonderland part! Yeah, kinda drags out, but only because of the content I added. Now, let's move onto the little notes!

(1) Yeah, that was my part in that change…because when Alice went through the Looking Glass, she met the White King and White Queen…and because Tweedledee and Tweedledum were in the sequel. Sora and Gabby are used to having read two separate books, the original and its sequel, not a combination of both books.

(2) Yeah, rather than include it, I summarized it. Why? Do you really want the Wonderland chapter to drag on even more? Plus, it would be considered a bit of a noodle incident…wait, it has an explanation…damn. Well, it's really the start of this chapter's running gag. As you can already see, Gabby's been doing the whacky growing and shrinking, unlike Sora, who learns from his partner's mistakes.

(3) That was a quote from **Hestic**…she is a real help with quotes! :D

(4) In _American McGee's Alice_, Alice had a Rage mode in which she powers up and is very strong, taking out nearly all enemies with one hit. That quote, there…is what the Cheshire Cat says when Alice is sprayed with Rage Power-up. Yup…in the sequel, there was Hysteria mode. Both are equally awesome, however…Hysteria is always handy only when Alice is down to her last HP rose.

(5) And by tame, I meant more organized…the Tiger lily was probably the most polite towards Alice…as for the other flowers, they were rather rude. Yeah, it's kinda hard to explain, but I would say the Disney toned them down…to an extent. They never shooed Alice away in the book or called her a weed…unlike in the movie, but yeah.

(6) The Lily actually sounded her B flat, not A, however…a B flat is just a half-step above the A note, so really, Lily was close enough. How I know this? Someone made a comment on YouTube about the Lily's note and I just looked up a B flat…yeah…

I'm a band geek, I take any chance to delve into anything related to music. XP

(7) HO SNAP! Sora's voice is cracking…yeah, no. I wasn't going to avoid that topic. We all know Sora's voice actor matured in KH2. I decided to just, well…since Re: CoM had Haley Joel Osment reprising as Sora and, well…yeah, how else am I going to explain the whole "Sora's voice deepened in Re: CoM"?

Keep in mind, this is something that's going to be brought up once I get to CoM…hey! There's your hint that there's going to be a sequel! XD I got a timeline made of it, too…:D

(8) Well, here's the thing…Sora and Gabby are much older than Alice in the book, by at least seven years, and since Gabby can't always repeat Alice's mistakes…yeah.

Here you go! Sora actually would fit a hibiscus since his red color and all as well as his hometown being located on an island immediately homed in on my love for hibiscus. Their flowers make the best ice-cold beverage as well as tea! :D Don't be hating on my hibiscus drinks! DX

(9) Ahem, as you can see…there are hints that Sora uses flowery shampoo. Just so happens to be the same kind Gabby uses. Nothing is much manlier than flowery shampoo, as **Hestic** puts it! XD

(10) I spent a while looking up blue flowers…it was between a Beach Moonflower (a type of Morning Glory), forget-me-nots, cornflowers, another Morning Glory, and then I came upon this lovely orchid…it was blue AND it is only located in a certain part of Australia.

Yeah, so those flowers have no right to disprove Gabby's status of that sort of flower. Plus, it sort of references how she isn't native to the islands. Yay for symbolism! :D

(11) Sora's never going to live that one down…XD Not on my watch, he won't! Yeah, Sora has to show some signs of growing up, I mean, he's like thirteen going on fourteen…I had health class! DX And there's this one example that I find quite recent…

There was this one guy in band that I knew since Middle School… He picked on me a bit and, since I got my braces, called me Ugly Betty…as did the bass clarinet player who sat in back of me and some others.

Last I saw of him before I graduated from Middle School, I was taller than the guy by a few inches and his voice…it was immature. Then came my sophomore year when the guy came back as a freshman and took band again… He got tall…really tall! Like six foot tall! (I'm only five foot two and a half!) DX And his voice…that was a HUGE shock…

The transition…yeah, I'm gonna move on. Also, do I NEED to make a Justin Beiber joke? Nuff said…god, that guy's the bane of my existence just below the _Twilight_ series… My hatred for him began when I was a Dama for my friend's _Quinceañera…don't ask._

(12) Another deleted song, _Dream Caravan_ was intended for the Caterpillar but was replaced with _A E I O U_…yeah, I like _Dream Caravan_ better.

(13) I actually took those quotes off the book…what? I couldn't resist! DX

(14) Fun Fact: The Caterpillar never turned into a butterfly in the book.

(15) Yet another incident that I summarized that I took from the book…another fun fact: The whole Duchess and the pepper scenario was originally going to be in the movie, but it was cut out.

I thought I'd include this…only because how else am I going to explain the croquet game? The Duchess was in there! DX

(16) The sequel for _American McGee's Alice_ hasn't quite come out for Sora and Gabby, just to let you know. However, the demo has, so the Cheshire Cat was able to put to use a Hobby Horse that Alice was given as a weapon. The Hobby Horse is a rather heavy weapon used in a manner similar to that of a hammer.

I guess I couldn't help but add something from the sequel…I really do like the sequel. :D Also, look at Sora…you cannot deny he that he fits the look of wielding the Vorpal blade!

(17) Yeah, Gabby's short height and her inability to wield a sword with a good reach was going to bite her in the ass one day…and it had to be through _this_! While it may not be a sword, it _is_ heavy and like a sword with a good reach, it throws off her balance. Magic isn't the only thing Gabby has to master…she also has to master her height's disadvantages.

Okay, that's enough of this! You guys know the drill, but as a precaution, I'll say it again! NO FLAMES!

Constructive criticism is always welcomed and reviews just make my day! Wait patiently for the next chapter and, hopefully, it will be the last of the Wonderland saga. Till next time, KD out! XD


	9. A Very Merry Unbirthday

WHAM!

Sora stared wide-eyed at Gabby, who was currently panting heavily. She scowled as she gripped the Hobby Horse's stick tightly, having just swung down.

Ever since the Cheshire Cat left Sora and gabby, Gabby had been trying to adjust to her very heavy melee weapon. So far…it hasn't shown much progress.

"First…gah…Magic…now…THIS!" Gabby exclaimed as she held up the Hobby Horse. "AARGH!"

WHAM!

Gabby had just slammed the Hobby Horse's head into the ground, creating a rather earth-shattering shockwave. It nearly knocked Sora off his feet, but he barely managed to keep his balance.

"Gabby, will you be careful with that weapon?" he yelled.

Gabby blinked and looked at Sora, frowning. "You try to wield this damn thing…"

"Let's just get going," said Sora. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it…"

Gabby sighed. "Fine…"

"You need any help?" Sora asked.

Gabby scowled at him. "I can manage on my own, thank you very much!"

THUD!

Sora arched his brow at Gabby, who was now on the ground.

"Losing your balance yet again…" he said. "Oh, you can manage perfectly well…at falling down!"

Gabby growled. "Shut up!"

…

…

…

Gabby muttered angrily as she followed after Sora, dragging along the Hobby Horse.

"Freaking…heavy…" she muttered.

Sora diverted his eyes on Gabby. "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

Gabby growled at Sora. "I can handle it myself, thank you very much!"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Always the hard way…"

Sora stopped abruptly and looked around. His ears twitched as they picked up a nearby sound that sounded like whistling.

"Something wrong?" asked Gabby.

"I think we found our tea-party…follow me," said Sora.

…

…

Their eyes went wide in wonder. "What in the…?"

The new area Sora and Gabby had just arrived to, was most certainly surprising. Out there before them, was a layout of what looked like some sort of outdoor tea party. There was a long table with a bright pink tablecloth standing in the middle of the area, in front of a large white and pink house with a roof made of hay. Chairs of all different kinds were lined up along the sides of the table. The table was filled from end to end with teacups, saucers, teapots, spoons, and sugar bowls.

The most interesting part of the tea party, were the teapots themselves. Various teapots differing in shape, design, and size were blowing out steam from their spouts, filling the area above the table with steam as they whistled a tune. Sora and Gabby made their way towards the table, very much intrigued with the sight before them.

"This wasn't in the book…" said Sora.

Gabby shook her head. "No…but I think I like this tea-party better! Hey, where are the March Hare and the Mad Hatter?"

Sora blinked and looked around. Faintly, he could spot out some figures at the other end of the table throughout the nearly opaque steam. He lowered his head just to where it was under the steam and spotted a rather familiar sight.

At the end of the table, was a brown somewhat scruffy-looking hare wearing a red suit. Sitting right next to the hare, was a man with white hair wearing a green hat with a size tag that read, "10/6". The two were moving their heads to the whistling tune as they both held up their teacups in a mock toast. It was there, the hare began to sing as he and the Mad Hatter swung their teacups to the left and right, not caring much about the tea they spilled. As they sang, they drank tea.

"_A very merry unbirthday to me!"_ sang the March Hare.

"_To who?"_ asked the Mad Matter.

The March Hare pointed at himself. _"To me."_

"_Oh, you!"_ said the Mad Hatter.

"_A very merry unbirthday to you,"_ sang the March Hare.

"_Who, me?"_ asked the Mad Hatter.

"_Yes, you!"_ replied the March Hare.

"_Oh, me!"_ exclaimed the Mad Hatter.

"_Let's all congratulate us with another cup of tea!"_ the March Hare sang as he and the Mad Hatter drank tea from the other's cup. Afterwards, they refilled their cups again with tea.

Sora and Gabby were by far, astonished with what they were just witnessing.

"This…is new," said Gabby.

"Very," added Sora.

"I thought the concept of unbirthdays came from Humpty Dumpty…" said Gabby. (1)

"Nothing makes sense anymore…then again, nothing ever does in Wonderland," Sora sighed. _"I better not have to sing here…"_

Gods know how much Sora had enough since his voice cracked during the whole situation in the flower garden. It was around here that the March Hare pulled out a small mouse out of a teapot…it was most likely the dormouse.

The March Hare began to drag out his voice as he slowly sang, _"A very merry unbirthday to~ you!"_

By the end of that, the March Hare, the Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse were all waving green top hats as they held them up in the air. Two of those green hats came from within the Mad Hatter's own green hat…apparently, his hat was big enough to fit two hats of differing, smaller sizes. The whistling teapots stopped their jaunty tune just at that moment, in which now, the only sound that could be heard, was clapping.

The March Hare and the Mad Hatter did a double take at what they saw at the end of the table. In the process, the Dormouse ended up being dropped right back into its teapot in a not-so-nice way.

Sora had his palm to his face as Gabby clapped her hands. His partner had firmly seated herself within a rather comfortable-looking pink armchair just at the end of the table. This was enough to earn a rather negative-looking reaction from the March Hare and Mad Hatter as they literally scrambled across the table towards Gabby, exclaiming, "No room! No room!"

Gabby blinked owlishly and looked at Sora. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Gabby…you made another Alice," said Sora. "Don't sit down at the Mad Tea-party uninvited."

Gabby blinked a few times and slapped her hand onto her forehead. "D'oh!"

Sora sighed and shook his head as he diverted his attention at the two mad tea-drinkers.

"Pardon my friend, here," said Sora. "She tends to forget her manners at time."

Gabby looked down, sheepishly. "I thought there was plenty of room…"

The March Hare placed his hand on his hip as he wagged his finger at Gabby. "Ah, but it's very rude to sit down without being invited."

"I say!" exclaimed the Mad Hatter. "It's very very rude, indeed! Hah!"

The Dormouse joined in the conversation, peering out of the teapot as it said, in a very drowsy voice, "Very very very rude, indeed…"

The Dormouse then went back into its teapot after that.

Gabby frowned. "Oh, I'm very sorry…but I did enjoy your singing!"

Sora inwardly scoffed. _"Kiss up!"_

The March Hare took well to Gabby's comment rather positively and literally dashed to the girl's side, sitting himself right down on the armchair's armrest. He looked eagerly at Gabby.

"You enjoyed our singing?" he asked.

Gabby smiled and nodded.

"Oh, what a delightful child!" the Mad Hatter exclaimed as he clasped his hands together. He then propped his elbows onto the table, his left elbow managing to submerge itself into a cup of tea that was in the way. The Mad Hatter looked at the cup of tea that was stuck on his elbow and started to pull on it. "Hah! I'm so excited, we never get compliments! You must have a cup of tea!"

The Mad Hatter smiled goofily as he pointed at the teacup on his elbow. The March Hare picked up a teapot as he nodded in agreement. He held out his hand right under the teapot's steaming spout.

"Ah, yes indeed!" he said, pouring the tea into his hand. Oddly enough, the hot tea that was poured out of the teapot morphed into first, a saucer, then a teacup, and finally, the tea itself, along with two cubes of sugar. "The tea, you must have a cup of tea!"

The March Hare held out the cup of tea to Gabby, who accepted it.

"Thank you…sorry for interrupting your unbirthday party," said Gabby. "But as you can see…it is also our unbirthday today…right, Sora?"

"Yeah," said Sora.

The March Hare perked up to this sudden information. "It is?"

The Mad Hatter clasped his hands together. "What a small world this is!"

Sora narrowed his eyes. _"Why do I find that…ironic?"_

"In that case—!" exclaimed the March Hare.

…

Sora and Gabby blinked as they found themselves being encircled by the March Hare and the Mad Hatter.

"_A very merry unbirthday,"_ sang the March Hare.

Gabby smiled. _"To me?"_

The Mad Hatter took off his hat and bowed politely at Gabby as he offered her a sparkling, pink cake with a flickering candle on top. The March Hare also bowed as well.

"_To you!"_ said the Mad Hatter.

Sora didn't say anything as he just stayed silent and had his arms crossed. The March Hare and the Mad Hatter skipped happily around the two.

"_A very merry unbirthday,"_ sang the March Hare.

"_For me?"_ asked Gabby.

"_For you!"_ replied the March Hare.

The Mad Hatter handed Gabby the cake on top of his head. _"Now blow the candle out, my dear and make your wish come true!"_

The Mad Hatter swiped off a bit of the cake's frosting with his finger and licked it off, chuckling afterwards. Gabby just smiled and was about to blow out the candle, but stopped herself. She turned to Sora and held out the cake to him. Sora blinked a few times as he stared at the burning candle. Shrugging, he blew it out and, immediately, the snuffed out candle began to spark with various colorful lights, almost like a firework—

"Oh, geez!" Sora exclaimed as he snatched the cake out of Gabby's hands and threw it up into the air.

Not long after, the cake rocketed even farther into the air in a manner similar to one _exactly_ like a firework. Sora and Gabby stared at the firework-like cake in awe.

"_A very merry unbirthday to you!"_ sang the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.

It was there that the cake burst into a salvo of colorful bright sparks, giving off a rather beautiful firework-like display. In a cloud of blue smoke, the small dormouse began to float down from the air, with the help of a small blue umbrella. As the Dormouse floated down, it sang:

"_Twinkle, twinkle, little bat,_

_How I wonder what you're at!_

_Up above the world you fly,_

_Like a tea-tray in the sky!__"_

The Dormouse landed right into a teapot after that, the Mad Hatter covering the teapot with its lid seconds afterward.

…

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" asked the Mad Hatter.

Sora blinked. "Poe wrote on them both."

The Mad Hatter smiled goofily. "Who wrote on both?"

"Poe," replied Sora.

"Who is Poe?" asked the Mad Hatter.

Sora resisted the urge to yell. He was already beginning to grow very frustrated.

"Gah, never mind…" he said.

Gabby looked questioningly at Sora as the March Hare poured her another cup of tea.

"I thought the answer to the riddle was that it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat," she remarked.

Sora adjusted his glasses. "Actually, it is _nevar_ put with the wrong end in front…but really, it can have many answers." (2)

"What can?" asked the March Hare.

Gabby looked at the hare. "A riddle."

"Your hair wants cutting," the Mad Hatter suddenly blurted out.

Gabby blinked as she had the teacup to her lips. Immediately, she set the teacup down and pulled her hair closer to herself.

"I'm…actually rather happy with my hair," she said somewhat quickly.

The Mad Hatter frowned as he dipped his saucer into his cup of tea. "Hmm, that's a shame."

The Mad Hatter then bit out a rather big piece of his saucer…almost as it had been a cookie of some sort. Seconds afterwards, the Mad Hatter set down his bitten saucer and cup of tea on the table as he shouted, "Clean cup, clean cup! Move down!"

Sora and Gabby blinked as they suddenly found themselves being dragged down the table by the March Hare and the Mad Hatter.

"But I haven't even used my cup!" exclaimed Sora.

The March Hare ignored Sora as he said, _"__Clean cup, clean cup, move down, move down, clean cup, clean cup, move down!"_

A few seats down later,

Sora and Gabby looked at each other questioningly.

"This is very…peculiar," said Sora.

Gabby just nodded. Sora sighed and shook his head as he brought his teacup to his lips.

"Hmm…jasmine …" said Sora. "Wait, I thought I had Darjeeling White!"

Gabby blinked a few times and looked at her teacup. She brought it to her lips and sampled the tea inside.

"Hmm…oh, my bad!" she said, taking the teacup out of Sora's hands and switching it out with hers. "Wrong tea, ha ha ha!"

Sora diverted his eyes on Gabby as he drank his tea. "Hn…"

…

…

Sora narrowed his eyes as he set his teacup and saucer down. He had no clue exactly how long he and Gabby had been at the Mad Tea party, but all he knew was that there had been absolutely no progress done whatsoever. Though, the tea had been rather nice…

"More tea?" asked the March Hare.

Sora unconsciously held up his teacup to the March Hare as he replied, "Oh, yes…thank you."

…

Sora blinked a few times as he realized that this was his fourth cup of tea…

"_Wait, this is Oolong…"_ he thought. "Eh…Gabby."

Gabby blinked as she looked at Sora. "Hmm…?"

"How long have we been here?" he asked.

Gabby shrugged as she poured the Mad Hatter a cup of tea. "Don't know…seems I lost track of time."

"He's like that, you know," said the Mad Hatter. "What day of the month is it?"

The Mad Hatter turned to Sora. He had taken his watch out of his pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then, and holding it to his ear.

Sora blinked and adjusted his glasses. "Let's see…it is the six month, second day, if I can recall."

"Two days wrong," sighed the Mad Hatter. He turned and looked angrily at the March Hare. "I told you butter wouldn't suit the works!"

The March Hare lowered his head as he meekly replied, "It was the _best_ butter…"

"Yes, but some crumbs must have gotten in as well," the Mad Hatter grumbled. "You shouldn't have put it in with the bread-knife."

The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily. Then he dipped it into his cup of tea, and looked at it again, but he could think of nothing better to say than his first remark, "It was the BEST butter, you know."

Gabby and Sora looked at the scene before them. They then turned to each other.

"Whoa…just…" said Sora.

"Déjà vu?" suggested Gabby.

Sora nodded. "Yeah…" (3)

The March Hare suddenly stood up in his seat as he exclaimed, "Clean cup, clean cup! Move down!"

Sora yelped as the Mad Hatter grabbed his arm and started to drag him down the table. Gabby exclaimed as the March Hare pushed her down the table.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

The Mad Hatter just said, "Clean cup! Clean cup! Move down, move down, move down!"

"But my rose hip tea!" wailed Gabby.

…

…

"Okay, I think we're wasting time, here," Sora said as he finished off his Earl Gray.

The Mad Hatter looked at Sora. "If you knew Time, you wouldn't have to worry…"

"Too bad we don't," Gabby replied as she stretched her arms. "All I know is that you have to beat time when you keep tempo in music class…"

"Great, now I miss Edward…" Sora sighed.

Edward Chris von Muir was D.A.'s Bard and Dancer teacher…he taught about the positivity and negativity of status effects. Along with that, he also happened to be the music teacher…and Dancer instructor. Sora never really did like the class, especially since those were three years of his life he spent in that class that he would _never_ get back… (4)

"He won't stand a beating," said the Mad Hatter. "Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he'd do almost anything you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o'clock in the morning, just time to begin lessons—"

"We start much earlier, actually…" said Gabby.

The Mad Hatter ignored Gabby as he continued. "You'd only have to whisper a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past one, time for dinner!"

Sora sighed. "If only it were easy as that…"

"That would be grand, certainly," Gabby said thoughtfully. "But then—I shouldn't be hungry for it, you know."

The Mad Hatter held up his index finger. "Not at first, perhaps, but you could keep it to half-past one as long as you liked."

Sora arched his brow at the Mad Hatter. "Is that the way YOU manage?"

The Mad Hatter shook his head mournfully.

"Not I!" he replied. "We quarreled last March—just before HE went mad, you know—"

The Mad Hatter pointed at the March Hare with his teaspoon before continuing on. "—it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing, 'Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at!' You know the song, perhaps?"

Gabby nodded. "The Dormouse sang it before, so I am quite familiar with it already."

"It goes on, you know," the Mad Hatter continued, "in this way: 'Up above the world you fly, like a tea-tray in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle—"

It was here that the Dormouse peered out of the teapot, half-asleep, and began singing, "Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle—"

The Dormouse went on so long that they had to pinch it to make it stop.

"Well, I'd hardly finished the first verse," said the Mad Hatter. "When the Queen jumped up and bawled out, 'He's murdering the time! Off with his head!'"

"How dreadfully savage!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora looked at Gabby with a deadpanned expression. "You're enjoying the part as Alice, aren't you?"

Gabby looked at Sora. "Oh, come now, fluffy…When you have nothing much to do, might as well."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Don't call me fluffy." (5)

"I can when you have those ears of yours!" Gabby said and, as if to prove her point, she started rubbing Sora's ears. "Fluffy, fluffy~!"

Sora scowled and grabbed Gabby's wrist. "Stop…now."

Gabby huffed and turned away from Sora. "No need to be a spoilsport…oh, I'm sorry, did we interrupt you?"

The Mad Hatter nodded.

"Oh, well, you may continue!" Gabby said as she rubbed the back of her head. "What happened afterwards?"

The Mad Hatter sighed. "Ever since that, Time won't do a thing I ask! It's always six o'clock now."

Sora looked around at the table. "Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?"

"Yes, that's it," the Mad Hatter said with a sigh. "It's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles."

Gabby tilted her head to the side. "Then you keep moving round, I suppose?"

"Exactly so," said the Mad Hatter. "As the things get used up."

"But what happens when you come to the beginning again?" Gabby asked.

"Suppose we change the subject," the March Hare interrupted, yawning. "I'm getting tired of this. I vote the young lady tells us a story."

Gabby blinked. "Huh? Sora…?"

Sora looked at his empty teacup. "I'm outta tea…"

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Sora as she held up two teapots. "Lady Gray or Peppermint?"

"Peppermint…I kinda have a headache, gah…" Sora said as he rubbed his head. "By the way, story time…"

"Story time!" exclaimed the Mad Hatter.

"Story time!" exclaimed the March Hare. (6)

"Story…time…" the Dormouse said drowsily.

Gabby frowned as she poured tea into Sora's cup. "But I suck at telling stories!"

"But aren't you…oh, wait, that was Kairi," said Sora.

Gabby scowled at Sora. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't dump scalding hot tea on you?"

"I'm your friend," replied Sora.

Gabby bit her lip. "Good point…"

"Maybe you should tell them about your engagement," Sora suggested. "That's an interesting story—gah!"

Sora yelped as hot tea began to spill on his hand. Gabby clenched her teeth as she glared at Sora with daggers.

"You said…you wouldn't bring it up…" she strained through her teeth.

The March Hare's ears had perked up to something that Gabby didn't want heard. "Did I hear you say, 'engaged'?"

The Mad Hatter clasped his hands together. "That's positively splendid! Who's the lucky one?"

Sora pointed at Gabby. "My friend…"

"How very…nice…" the Dormouse remarked sleepily.

"Tell us…how did it happen?" asked the March Hare.

"Don't skip out on details…" said the Mad Hatter.

"We're all ears…" the March Hare added, his ears twitching in response.

Gabby sighed and looked at Sora, whom just shrugged.

"I hate you…" she sighed.

…

…

…

"How very…interesting!" exclaimed the March Hare.

The Mad Hatter nodded and held up a teapot. "This calls for more tea!"

The Dormouse nodded sluggishly. "More…tea…"

Gabby looked at Sora. "Uh, Sora…I think it's time we go, now…"

Sora blinked as he finished what seemed to be his six cup of tea. "Hmm…? Okay…"

Sora set his teacup down and stood up from his seat. He gestured at Gabby, who had just poured herself a cup of tea.

"Huh…hold on, I never got to drink my rose hip tea," she said.

Sora's ears slumped down as he sighed in dismay. "You're the one who wanted to go…"

"You look as if you need some information," said the Mad Hatter.

Sora blinked and looked at the Mad Hatter. "Do you know, by chance, where the White Rabbit has gone to?"

The Mad Hatter placed his hand on his chin as he began to think. "Hmm…I can't seem to recall…"

Sora sighed. "That's too bad…we're running out of time…we need to get to the Queen of Hearts."

The Mad Hatter blinked. "Time…oh, I know just the thing!"

The Mad Hatter got up from his seat and gestured at Sora and Gabby. Sora looked at Gabby and grabbed her by the arm, causing the girl to yelp as she dropped her teacup. The teacup landed firmly on the table in one piece.

…

Sora and Gabby stared wide-eyed at the green, spiral vortex inside the house. The Mad Hatter smiled goofily as he held the door open for the two.

"Time to jump in Time to jump through time," said the Mad Hatter. "…I'm _dizzy_." (7)

Sora and Gabby looked at each other.

"What now?" Sora asked.

Gabby shrugged and diverted her attention back on the vortex. "Let's just go through it…I mean, it can't any worse from here on out, can it?"

Sora narrowed his eyes. "We're going to the Queen of Hearts…what do you think?"

Gabby blinked. "Oh, that's right…well, in we go!"

Sora's eyes widened as Gabby grabbed his hand and dragged him into the vortex with her as she jumped in.

"How is the Queen of Hearts not like a typhoon?" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora blinked as he realized Gabby wanted him to answer that. "Both are powerful, destructive, and indiscriminately cruel. But the typhoon doesn't mean to be!"

Gabby laughed. "Good answer! Wrong, but good!"

"What does this have to do with anything?" exclaimed Sora.

"Nothing!" replied Gabby.

Sora let out a frustrated groan.

…

…

Sora and Gabby looked around at their surroundings. After jumping through…time, they found themselves in a rather different setting. For one, it wasn't a forest, and two…it seemed to be in a hedge maze.

"A maze…?" Sora said, narrowing his eyes.

Gabby looked at Sora. "That must mean we must be near the Queen of Hearts…let's go!"

Sora sighed as he followed after Gabby. Something told him that he was definitely going to hate this.

…

…

Sora stared at the three-way split in the maze, having spent nearly fifteen minutes with Gabby, searching through the maze. They found more dead-ends than leads and frankly, Sora was very annoyed. Sora turned his attention to Gabby, whom had just come back from one of the pathways in the three-way split.

"Dead-end," she said. "That just leaves us with two more choices."

Sora sighed and took the left pathway. "I'll check this one…"

…

Dead-end…

Sora's eye twitched slightly as he stared at the dead-end. Tightening his fists, Sora turned around and made his way back. Gabby was waiting patiently for him, her arms crossed as she watched him walk by her.

"Anything?" she asked.

Sora looked at Gabby, his eye still twitching. "No…"

Gabby sighed and diverted her gaze to the middle pathway. "That just leaves us with that path."

Sora felt very much relieved, but at the same time, very frustrated. What else could await them in the middle pathway?

…

Dead-end…

Sora's eye twitched again, as did his ears, as he stared at yet another dead-end… And it was the last path! That meant he and Gabby had to go back and…do everything all over again. Sora groaned and placed his hands on his head as he grabbed his ears.

"That's it!" he exclaimed. "Breaking point for Sora!"

Gabby frowned as she looked at Sora. "You okay?"

Sora looked at Gabby with a very frustrated expression. "Just peachy…"

Gabby smiled and grabbed a hold of Sora's arm. "Great, let's go, then!"

Sora yelped as Gabby began to drag him again. Either she had no clue about sarcasm (which would be rather strange), or Gabby had deliberately ignored his sarcasm…

"_I'm going with the latter…" _thought Sora.

…

…

"Okay," said Sora. "How exactly did this happen?"

Gabby looked at Sora with wide-eyes as she tried to get her flamingo to cooperate. They were playing croquet and the hedgehogs were balls whilst the flamingos were the mallets. Apparently, the blue flamingo Gabby had as a mallet did not want anything to do with her…and for that, Gabby was mad.

What had happened exactly before this, well… Sora and Gabby had come upon the rose-painting cards and, in turn, encountered the Queen of Hearts, a rather large woman dressed in regal clothing, and just about every other card that existed in a deck. The White Rabbit had also appeared, but by now, Sora and Gabby could care less.

They were playing croquet, now, and the Queen was winning…by choice because no one wanted to lose their heads. So far, only four cards had lost their head in the past time Sora and Gabby had encountered the Queen.

The Queen of Hearts was losing her patience with Gabby, but only because the girl was delaying her turn. All Gabby had managed to do was get everyone laughing at her, thanks to her "cooperate" flamingo mallet. Gabby growled as she tried to keep her flamingo from flying away from her.

…

The cards were now cheering as somehow, the flamingo had Gabby switching places with it. Gabby crossed her arms as she glared at the flamingo as it gripped her legs and moved them back and forth. The flamingo was going to use Gabby as a croquet mallet. Sora found this amusing, but Gabby didn't.

"_No one uses me as a croquet mallet…"_ she thought.

The flamingo was about to swing when he noticed that Gabby was gesturing at him to come closer. The flamingo lowered his head as he neared Gabby, wearing a goofy look on his face. He shrieked as Gabby suddenly grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down, turning the tables of whom had control over whom.

Gabby picked up the blue hedgehog by the scruff of its neck and positioned it before using her flamingo's body as a mallet to hit the hedgehog. The hedgehog was sent flying across the croquet field, and thanks to the cards that were the arches or rather, the wickets, for the game, the hedgehog missed every wicket…thankfully. Gabby wiped her brow and sighed.

"Well, that was fun…your turn, Sora," said Gabby.

Sora shrugged and looked at his red flamingo. "You will listen to me, unless you want the Queen to have our heads…"

The red flamingo thought much more differently from the blue flamingo Gabby had and was extremely cooperative…as was the red hedgehog. However, their cooperation only lasted until Sora got the hedgehog rolling across the field, where, as he expected, it missed all the wickets.

"Well, better luck, next time," said Sora. "Gee, this game is hard."

It wasn't really…well, it was, because the flamingos and the hedgehogs, but that was something else. Really, Sora was just trying to get on the Queen's good side because, frankly, he wanted to keep his head. His attempts were actually working as the Queen was happy, which was a good thing.

…

…

By the time the game was over, at least three more cards had lost their heads. Despite the loss, the Queen was satisfied with her win. Sora and Gabby were just happy they still had their heads…

"Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?" asked the Queen.

Sora blinked and was about to answer…only for Gabby to beat him to that.

"No…" she replied. "What is a Mock Turtle?"

Gabby tilted her head to the side, not noticing Sora's frantic attempts to get her to change the subject.

"It's the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from," the Queen answered as a matter of fact. "Does that clear things up?"

Sora nodded his head, trying to get Gabby to do the same, however…she didn't.

"No…" she replied.

The Queen of Hearts smiled and gestured at the two to follow her. "Come on, then…and he shall tell you his history."

Sora slapped his hand onto his forehead. _"God damn it…"_

…

…

…

"I hate you so much…" said Sora. "Out of all the things you remembered and kept us from getting into, it was this part that you couldn't prevent…really, now?"

Gabby frowned as she looked at Sora. "Oh, c'mon, Sora…I said I was sorry…"

Sora sighed and shook his head. He had had just about enough of this world…he hated the Mock Turtle and his song "Beautiful Soup"…why did he have to go through all that? Sora sighed and diverted his attention to the Gryphon. The Gryphon was taking him and Gabby back to the Queen of Hearts. (8)

"Hey, Gryphon…did the Knave of Hearts steal the Queen's tarts?" he asked.

"Yes, and for that, he lost his head," the Gryphon replied.

"So this isn't the Knave's trial, is it?" asked Gabby.

The Gryphon blinked and shook his head. "No, that was breakfast's trial."

Sora arched his brow as he scratched the back of his head. "Then…what's this trial about?"

"We shall see," said the Gryphon.

Gabby frowned. "But I don't see."

"You will soon enough," replied the Gryphon.

By the time they had arrived, it seemed a lot had happened. For one thing, there was a huge crowd assembled about in the courtroom. Creatures were scrambling left to right for a spot in the jury box. The Queen of Hearts was sitting on an elevated platform, or rather, the judge's bench. The King of Hearts was right next to the Queen of Hearts, standing on top of a stack of books. He was just that small…

The White Rabbit climbed up a flight of stairs as he made his way to the top of a podium that was at level to the judge's bench. Once he made it to the top, he took out a small trumpet and played a brief interlude. Afterwards, he removed the trumpet's mouthpiece from his mouth and inhaled deeply.

"Court is now in session!" he announced.

Sora and Gabby stared at the courtroom, their eyes widening when they spotted who the defendants were, that were currently at the bar in front of the judge's bench. It was Donald, Goofy, and some young girl with blonde hair…that had to be Alice!

"There's Alice!" said Sora.

Gabby turned to Sora and shushed him. "We're in court…Do NOT get the Queen mad…"

Sora looked at Gabby and nodded. He diverted his gaze back at the trial. He just hoped nothing got too bad…

"Her Majesty!" announced the White Rabbit. "Members of the jury…loyal subjects…"

The White Rabbit took a bow after listing off a name. He blinked and turned after feeling something tap on his shoulder. It was the King of Hearts…

The White Rabbit sighed and held out his hand as he added, "…and the king."

The King of Hearts took off his crown and held it up as he looked around, smiling. The White Rabbit cleared his and gestured at the Queen of Hearts.

"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" exclaimed the White Rabbit.

The Queen of Hearts opened her eyes and took one look at the defendants. "These three are the culprits! There's no doubt about it!"

Donald, Goofy, and Alice were horrified at the Queen's accusation, especially with what she said next.

"And the reason is…" the Queen said. "…because I say so, that's why!"

Alice frowned and banged her hand on the bar. "That is so unfair!"

Donald nodded in agreement. "Yeah!"

The Queen of Hearts scowled. "SILENCE!"

Alice and Donald flinched, both retreating behind Goofy for defense. Goofy looked at the two and then at the Queen.

"Isn't there anything, uh, else, Your Majesty?" Goofy asked innocently.

The Queen looked at Goofy and just smiled sweetly. "No…now, are you ready to hear your sentence?" She sounded so polite and sincere as she said this…

Alice looked questioningly at the Queen. "Sentence? Ah, but there must be a verdict first!"

"Sentence first!" the Queen replied, slamming her fist on the bench. She then held up her index finger and wagged it at Alice as she added, with a smile, "Verdict afterwards…"

"That doesn't seem right," said Goofy.

The Queen scowled at Goofy. "I'm ALWAYS right! Off with their—"

The Queen of Hearts trailed off as she felt a slight tugging on her skirt. She turned and saw that it had been the King of Hearts.

"Consider, my dear…" said the King. "Uh…we called no witnesses…uh, couldn't we…uh, maybe one or two…? Ha…maybe?"

The Queen huffed. "Oh, very well…BUT GET ON WITH IT!"

The King scrambled over to his seat, very much intimidated by the Queen's loud voice. He fell off his stack of books, only to climb back on, this time with his gavel. He pounded his gavel on bar, exclaiming, "First witness! First witness! Ah, we'll call the first witness."

"The March Hare!" announced the White Rabbit.

Two pair of cards, an ace and a two, both of the Spade suit, marched up to the center of the courtroom, carrying the March Hare by his ears. The March Hare didn't seem to notice much as he was drinking his tea very casually. The March Hare was then thrown onto the witness stand, landing promptly in a neat manner. He was still drinking his tea when the King asked a question.

"Oh, oh, what do you know about this uh... unfortunate affair?" asked the King.

"Nothing," the March Hare replied as he used his finger to stir his tea.

The Queen leaned over the bench as she asked, "Nothing whatever?"

The March Hare literally got into the Queen's face as he replied, "NOTHING WHATEVER!"

The Queen then turned to the King, knocking him off so suddenly from his stack of books. "That's very important! Jury, write that down!"

The Jury began to write down exactly what was just said, which was "Nothing whatever". Alice looked at the Queen and held up her index finger.

"Unimportant, uh…Your Majesty means, of course!" she said.

The Queen grabbed the gavel the King had in his hand and started pounding on the bench, the King still holding onto the gavel as this happened.

"SILENCE!" she screamed, lowering her voice as she said, "Next witness."

"The Dormouse!" exclaimed the White Rabbit.

The Spades (cards) brought in the next witness, the two walking very carefully and quietly as they held something on a plate with a cover over it. They set it carefully onto the bench, just in front of the Queen, and took off the cover, revealing a yellow teapot underneath. The Queen grabbed the teapot and took off the lid.

"Well…" she first said in a loud voice before being shushed by the cards. The Queen looked at the cards and set the teapot back down as she spoke in a lower voice. "What have you to say about this?"

The Dormouse poked its head out of the teapot and replied, "_Twinkle, twinkle, little bat. How I wonder..."_

The Queen held the teapot close to her ear after the Dormouse went back into the teapot. The Queen then set the teapot back down and whispered to the King, "That's the most important piece of evidence we've heard yet."

All the jurors had their hands around their ear as they tried to hear what the Queen had just whispered. They all flinched as the Queen suddenly screamed, "Write that down!"

The jury did so, and as they did, they said, "Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle…"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Twinkle, twinkle. What next?"

Donald and Goofy shrugged and turned to see who the next witness was.

"The Mad Hatter!" said the White Rabbit.

The Mad Hatter skipped all the way to the courtroom, stopping only to bow at the Queen before suddenly being poked by two rather sharp spade-tipped spears, courtesy of the cards. The Mad Hatter placed his hands on his bottom as he exclaimed and jumped up, landing back down on the witness stand. He laughed as he rubbed his backside, diverting his attention to the Queen afterwards.

The Queen took one look at the Mad Hatter and screamed, "Off with your hat!"

The Mad Hatter pulled off his hat and chuckled. Underneath his hat, had been a blue teapot, teacup, and saucer (respectively) balanced on his head. The King leaned on his gavel as he looked at the Mad Hatter.

"And eh... where were you when this horrible crime was committed?" asked the King.

The Mad Hatter was now sitting on his hat, currently making use of the teacup, saucer, and teapot on his head to pour himself a cup of tea…or rather, he used the teapot like a seltzer and sprayed himself a cup of tea.

"I was home, drinking tea," replied the Mad Hatter. "Today you know is my unbirthday."

The King smiled as he turned to the Queen. "Why, my dear! Today is your unbirthday too!"

"It is?" the Queen replied.

The March Hare and the Mad Hatter looked at each other as they clasped hands. "It is?"

"It is?" replied just about everyone, save for the defendants, Sora and Gabby.

Sora and Gabby sighed as they knew what was coming next. Goofy, on the other hand, looked curious.

"Unbirthday?" he repeated, chuckling afterwards.

Alice looked at Goofy. "There are a total of three-hundred and sixty-four unbirthdays in a year and they are celebrated on any day it is not the person's birthday." (9)

Goofy chuckled. "Well, then it's my unbirthday, too!"

Donald. "Mine as well."

Alice smiled. "It is also mine, too!"

The three defendants found their small celebration cut as everyone was too busy celebrating the Queen's unbirthday. The Mad Hatter had rolled out a tablecloth full of whistling teapots over the bench. A cake with pink icing was at the end of the tablecloth, where the Queen currently was sitting at. She stared at the cake with a wide smile on her face as everyone began to sing (save for the defendants, Sora, and Gabby) to the Queen:

"_A very merry unbirthday!"_

"_To me?" _asked the Queen.

"_To you! A very merry unbirthday!"_

The Queen swiped off a bit of frosting from the cake and licked it off, responding afterwards, _"For me?"_

"_For you!"_ was the response.

The Mad Hatter took his hat off and started throwing out lit candles that had been in his hat onto the cake.

"_Now blow the candle off, my dear and make your wish come true!"_ said the Mad Hatter.

The Queen blew at the candles, not only blowing out the flames, but also managing to blow off the frosting and candles off the cake. Then, the cake suddenly exploded, in its place, now was a blue and white-striped present with a yellow bow. The Queen eagerly unwrapped her gift as everyone sang the last of the lyrics to the song.

"_A very merry unbirthday, to you!"_

The Queen smiled widely as she took out a purple, pumpkin-shaped item with a crown on the top and pearls decorating the side. The Queen puckered her lips as she carefully placed the item on her crown, smiling when the fit was perfect. The purple item added to her crown, giving the Queen an even more regal look of sophistication. (10)

"So, have you anything to say in your defense?" the Queen asked rather kindly.

Donald was thinking of what to say, Goofy had no clue what to say, but Alice…she did have something to say. She placed her hand on her hip and wagged her finger at the Queen.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "I've done absolutely nothing wrong!"

Donald blinked and nodded. "Yeah! And neither have we!"

Goofy nodded along. "Yeah…though, what did we do?"

Donald looked at Goofy as he tightened his fists and yelled, "Nothing!"

Alice continued on, rather assertively. "You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so…so _mean_."

This maddened the Queen, even more so when her crown's new adornment had just fallen off.

"SILENCE!" she screamed.

The Queen had opened her mouth so wide that a gust of hot air blew into the defendants' faces, coming straight out of the queen's colossal windpipe. Alice's blonde hair began to billow behind her, Goofy's hat almost fell off, and Donald was currently clutching onto both Goofy and his hat in sheer fear. The Queen was scary.

The Queen pounded her fists on the bench. Her good mood had come and gone, leaving her rather mad. "You dare defy me?"

Sora and Gabby looked at each other. Everything had pretty much gone downhill…not good.

"I think we should intervene…" said Sora.

Gabby clutched her head as she tried to think of something. "What would Phoenix Wright, do?"

Sora looked at Gabby and sighed as he face-palmed. "We are not in a videogame…" (11)

…

The Queen adjusted herself in her seat as she decided that she had had enough. She rose slightly, lifting her heart-tipped wand high in the air in order to get everyone's attention.

"The court finds the defendant…" She narrowed her eyes maliciously at defendants before leaning forward again and pointing her fan straight at the defendants' faces accusingly. "…_guilty _as charged!"

Donald, Goofy, and Alice gasped in horror. They were both shocked and terrified with what had just happened…the three knew they had done absolutely nothing wrong…but the Queen didn't care. She only cared about her way.

The Queen settled back in her chair, tapping the end of her wand into her open palm. "For the crimes of assault and _attempted theft_ of my heart…"

…

"Sora, we have to chance it…" said Gabby.

Sora adjusted his glasses as he looked at Gabby. "Are you serious?"

Gabby shrugged. "Hey, it's either that, or Leeroy Jenkins, and we know this situation does not fit."

Sora pulled on his collar a bit. "True…" (12)

…

The Queen of Hearts rose to her feet, her black and red dress swaying as the woman shifted her weight almost completely over the edge of her podium. She pointed one massive finger at the defendants accusingly.

"_OFF _WITH THEIR _HEADS_!" she shouted.

The card soldiers shifted their positions and were now facing the queen. They adjusted the spears and axes that they each held in their grip. They seemed to nod in unison, completely obedient to their Queen of Hearts. It was either the defendants' heads or theirs…and for them, they rather liked their heads.

Donald and Goofy were huddled up to each other in fear, Alice still the only one brave enough to try to at least talk the Queen out of the sentence…and she was only six.

"No, no!" she exclaimed. "Oh, please!"

…

"Now or never!" Gabby exclaimed as she pushed Sora forward.

Sora adjusted his glasses and then, suddenly, exclaimed, "OBJECTION!"

Gabby winced as she noticed that Sora's voice cracked again. (13)

"Oh, god, that came out wrong!" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby looked down as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. "We are so screwed…"

Sora looked around and noticed that everyone was now looking at him and Gabby…including Donald and Goofy, who were both very happy to see them.

"Sora!" they exclaimed. "Gabby!"

Gabby took her hands off her face and looked at her teammates, smiling at them. "Hey, guys! We'll be your lawyers for today!"

Donald sighed in relief. "Finally…"

The Queen of Hearts was not amused. "How dare you interfere with my court!"

Sora cleared his throat and calmly walked up to the Queen. "Your Majesty, if you will…I couldn't help but notice that you missed a crucial piece in this trial."

The Queen arched her brow at Sora. "I did…? And what would that be?"

Sora took off his glasses and began to clean them. "Evidence…to prove Her Majesty is right or wrong, which most likely isn't the case, but one can't be too sure…"

The Queen looked thoughtfully at Sora and turned to the King. The King smiled as he couldn't help but agree with Sora.

"He's right…we don't have evidence," he said.

The Queen scowled and diverted her gaze back onto Sora. "Well, do you have any proof?"

Gabby slapped her hand on her forehead. Of course…

…

…

Donald, Goofy, and Alice suddenly found themselves being stuffed within a cage-like prison. Sora was currently in his corner of depression with blue lines running down the wall to note it. Gabby looked at Sora and sighed as she walked up to him.

"It's okay, Fluffy…this was my fault," she said.

Sora didn't even bother to rebuke Gabby for that nickname of his that she gave him. He didn't care about that…well, mostly. It was the fact that just about _everyone_ heard his voice crack…that's _twice_ in a _day_ he didn't _want_ to experience!

The Queen looked at Sora. "You…I shall humor your claim…bring me evidence of the defendants' innocence!"

Sora looked up at the Queen, awestruck. He couldn't believe he actually managed to convince her.

"Fail, and it's off with all of your heads!" the Queen continued. Her voice began to increase in volume and rage as she added, "Until you conclude your investigations, the court is _adjourned_!"

With that, the King pounded the gavel on the bench, dismissing the court for a small break.

…

…

Sora and Gabby both sighed as they made their way through a forest. It was unlike any of the other forests they had been through…in fact, this was actually seemed much smaller and easier to move through.

"Well, how do you suppose we'll get evidence?" asked Gabby.

Sora shook his head. "I'm at a loss…wait, this was your idea!"

Sora glared at Gabby, whom laughed nervously in response.

"Ehehe…my bad…" she replied.

Sora shook his head. "First world and, already, we're at a dead-end…I don't wanna lose my head…"

"Don't tell me you two have already given up…" said a voice. "Really, now…I thought you were much tougher than that…but then again, assumptions shouldn't be taken to consideration without evidence…"

Sora and Gabby stopped in their tracks and looked around. Sitting at the top of a tree stump, was the Cheshire Cat.

"You!" exclaimed Sora.

The Cheshire Cat grinned at Sora. "I suppose it's evidence you want…Tell me, how fares Alice?"

Sora growled. "She's fine…but you know something about the evidence!"

"Maybe I do…maybe I don't," remarked the Cheshire Cat. "I don't know the location, but I will tell you this…there are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find…the fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all…though, I suppose…I should get you started."

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and a pink box suddenly appeared right in front of Sora. Sora took the box and looked at it.

"What is it?" asked Sora.

"It's the first of what you're looking for," said the Cheshire Cat. "You may go back to the trial, if you wish…"

Sora looked over the box and then back at the Cheshire Cat. "We'll get them all…"

The Cheshire Cat's grin widened. "That's the spirit…was almost afraid you'd take the easy way and really, now, where's the fun in all that?"

Having said that, the Cheshire Cat disappeared, leaving Sora and Gabby alone. Sora and Gabby looked at each other.

"You go left, and I'll go right…we meet up back here when I give the signal," said Sora.

Gabby tilted her head to the side. "What's the signal?"

Sora held out his hand and a fireball suddenly appeared in his hand. He threw the fireball into the air, where it then burst into an array of small flames.

"That's the signal…" said Sora.

Gabby frowned. "I wish I could do that…"

"Then learn," said Sora.

Gabby sighed and turned. "I'll find a way…somehow…"

Sora sighed as he watched Gabby walk away. "Please don't die…"

…

…

Sora climbed onto the top of a mushroom and looked down, having found himself surrounded by Heartless.

"Will you ever give us a break?" he exclaimed, taking out his jacks.

Sora threw the jacks at the only large-bodied Heartless in the group of smaller-sized Heartless. If anything, the large one would give him the most trouble…

"_So it's best to get rid of fatty before I get cornered…"_ Sora thought, smiling as he saw the large-bodied Heartless's heart flutter into the air. "Time for the Vorpal Blade!"

Sora jumped down from the mushroom as he took out his Vorpal Blade. He readied the weapon as he looked around for an opening before…

"Snicker-snack!" Sora exclaimed as he sliced at one of the shadow-like Heartless.

The Heartless disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Sora stared at it, finding it rather peculiar because the other Heartless always had hearts fluttering after their demise…the black ones didn't… Sora shrugged and turned to the other Heartless.

Sora blinked a few times as he spotted a pink box just nearby the Heartless.

"_There's evidence box #2!"_ he thought.

* * *

Meanwhile with Gabby,

Gabby yelled as she slammed the Hobby Horse into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent two, large-bodied Heartless onto the ground. She grunted as she lifted up the Hobby Horse again and smashed it down on one of the Heartless. Somehow, with each Heartless she destroyed, Gabby found it slightly easier to use the Hobby Horse without losing her balance.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed.

THUD!

That didn't mean she stopped losing her balance, though. Gabby muttered as she got up from the ground. She was lucky the Heartless that was on her case, was dazed. She took advantage of this and slammed the Hobby Horse down on the large-bodied Heartless.

"_Large Body…I think this name suits them,"_ thought Gabby._ "And so another one bites the dust…but still no evidence!"_

Gabby sighed and looked around. She blinked a few times when she saw a small opening just at the corner of the forest. She had to jump a few platform-like lotuses, but she managed to get to where she wanted to go and that was where the opening was.

"_I wonder what's beyond here…" _she thought. _"I better take a look…"_

…

"What the?" she exclaimed.

Somehow…_somehow_…after going through that opening, Gabby found herself on top of a faucet…that wasn't normal!

"How am I going to get back?" she exclaimed as she noticed the opening was very much out of her reach.

There was no going back… Gabby sighed and looked around, blinking when she spotted something just across from her. Just a good jump's distance away from her, was a small pink box, set on top of what seemed to be a cabinet. She had found herself an evidence box…

"_At least something good came out of this…"_ she thought.

* * *

Back with Sora,

Sora looked around for any sign of his partner. He had just gotten two boxes of evidence and he wanted to see if Gabby had found anything… He sighed and decided to look around for more evidence. He jumped onto a few platform-like lotuses and spotted something rather peculiar on a stem of a lotus. It was a dark opening…Sora had no clue where it led to, but it looked like it had to go somewhere.

"_Well, what have I got to lose…?"_ he thought.

Actually…forget that thought. There are a lot of things Sora didn't want to find out that he could actually lose… Sora sighed for what seemed to be the umpteenth time as he made his way to the opening in the stem.

…

Sora's eyes widened as he found himself falling from a tremendous height. Then, he landed on what seemed to be a part of a fireplace. Whatever it was, all he knew was that he landed the wrong way again. Sora clenched his teeth as he waited for the pain coursing through his legs, caused from the landing, to cease.

After a full minute, Sora's pain seemed to have mostly diminished, at least allowing him the ability to walk properly. He looked around at his surroundings and realized something…

"I'm back to where we started!" he exclaimed.

Indeed, he was…he was right back to the room where the doorknob was…

"_At least I have the key…"_ he thought. _"Thank you, hindsight…huh?"_

Sora blinked and adjusted his glasses as he just barely noticed the pink box that was right next to his foot. He smiled and picked up the box.

"Evidence box #3!" he exclaimed. "Now all I have to do is look for Gabby…hmm?"

Sora's ears twitched as he heard something that seemed to be…just below him. Sora blinked a few times and walked over to the edge to look down. Walking about on the floor, was Gabby, who was currently carrying a pink box that she had just recently obtained. Sora grinned.

"_That was quick…"_ he thought. "Hey, Gabby! Over here by the fireplace!"

…

Gabby blinked and looked around, her gaze diverting onto the fireplace. Standing on a higher level on the fireplace, was Sora…and he had a pink box as well. Sora looked down and carefully jumped off the fireplace, managing to land correctly, for once.

Sora turned and watched as Gabby ran towards him.

"Sora!" she exclaimed. "How'd you get up there?"

Sora shrugged. "I have no idea…you?"

Gabby sighed. "I dunno…I just went through this opening in a wall and the next thing I know, I'm standing on top of a faucet…yeah, don't ask."

Sora sighed. "Well, at least we found all four boxes—oh, great! We got company!"

Gabby blinked and turned, narrowing her eyes when she spotted a blizzard-based Heartless floating around just in front of her.

"Not you guys, again…" she muttered. "Okay, let's try this once again…Fire!"

…

…

Gabby clenched her teeth as she saw her fireball fall onto the ground, moments after just forming. She still couldn't produce a stable fire…

_"At least I formed a fireball this time…"_ she thought. _"Well, time for the Hobby Horse!"_

…

SLAM!

Sora clenched his teeth as he was nearly thrown off his feet by the massive shockwave Gabby created via Hobby Horse. It was rather unsettling…especially since he had his Vorpal Blade in hand.

"Gabby…you mind watching where you slam that thing?" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby blinked and looked at Sora with a deadpanned expression. "Sora…maybe you should be the one watching out where I slam this thing…like right now! GAH!"

SLAM!

This time, Sora lost his balance and landed flat on his tailbone. Sora winced from the impact and started to rub his backside as Gabby continued her Hobby Horse destruction on many Heartless.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Gabby.

THUD!

Sora narrowed his eyes as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Gabby lost her balance…because of that damn Hobby Horse.

"What am I going to do with you?" Sora sighed. "Ya know…if you weren't so short, this might not have been a problem…"

Gabby looked at Sora as she got off the floor. "Well, excuse me for being short! You have no right to pick on me for being short! I happened to be taller that you by an inch, remember?"

Sora looked blankly at Gabby as he threw his Vorpal Blade on an unsuspecting Heartless. "Actually, take a closer look…I'm taller."

Gabby blinked a few times and walked up to Sora. "Say what? There is no way that you're taller than…me?"

Gabby blinked as she compared her height to Sora's height. There was now a very distinguishable gap between the two's heights. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gabby's face as she looked up at Sora…_looked_ **up** at Sora. Sora looked blankly at Gabby.

"I'm taller than Tidus by an inch, now…" he remarked. "And to rebuke your intended insult…at least I'm taller than you, Tidus, _and_ Selphie." (14)

Gabby stared agape at Sora. "When was this?"

"Last physical exam…which was last week!" replied Sora. "How can you _not_ notice?"

"Dude…a majority of our friends are taller than us," said Gabby. "The only exceptions might as well be anyone who is younger than us…save for Tidus…you were not part of the majority that I expected to be _taller_ than _me_!"

Sora stared at Gabby. "You need to learn to be more perceptive…"

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Sora. "I don't wanna hear it…"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think we should stop talking," said Sora. "There are still Heartless about and all we're doing is acting as if this were just any casual conversation."

Luckily for them, the Heartless had been rather inactive due to their attempt to try a strategy as the huddled around in a circle…only for it to fail as Sora slammed the Hobby Horse on the unsuspecting group. That was the last time they listened to a Shadow…too bad it was also their last choice. As for the Shadow who gave the advice…well, it's gone. (15)

"I find this situation rather convenient," Gabby said as she tried to cast another fire spell.

…

Gabby growled as her fireball fell to the ground. She still had yet to master Fire Magic…

Sora snorted. "Here, let me give you a pointer…try to concentrate."

Gabby narrowed her eyes. "What? I'm not concentrating already?"

Sora sighed and held out his hands. "Think heat…anything fiery and burning infernos…"

"Like Ifrit?" Gabby asked.

Sora nodded. "Like Ifrit—you better not try to summon him!"

God knows how much Sora _hated_ Ifrit…especially after that near-death experience. Gabby nodded and held out her hands.

"Okay, focusing!" said Gabby.

…

Gabby smiled as she saw flames beginning to morph into a fireball in her hands. The flames sputtered a bit, something that Sora saw.

"Focus better!" he snapped.

Gabby growled. "I'm trying, you damned Chocobo Head!"

Sora arched his brow at Gabby. He wasn't insulted…no, just amused. For one thing, Gabby's Fire Magic seemed to manifest rather well under the influence of Gabby's anger…

"_Maybe…" _he thought. "Okay, short-stack, show me what you got!"

Gabby growled. "I'll show you what I got! And it involves the Hobby Horse…"

Sora inwardly flinched at Gabby's threat. He had no idea what she meant by that exactly, but anything involving the Hobby Horse didn't sound too good…and anything involving that Blizzard-based Heartless behind Gabby didn't look good as well!

"Gabby, watch out!" exclaimed Sora. "Heartless behind you, move!"

Gabby blinked and turned around, shrieking as the Blue Rhapsody Heartless literally got in her face.

"FIRE!" she yelled.

BAM!

Sora stared wide-eyed at the perfect fireball that shot out of Gabby's hands and set the Heartless aflame. That…was by far, definitely the most surprising first…

"Wow…" said Sora. "You killed your first Heartless…with Magic."

Gabby was currently huffing and panting, her heart practically pounding within her chest. It took her a full minute to realize what had just happened.

"I casted Fire…" she said. "Oh, my god…I actually did it!"

Gabby turned to Sora, wearing a huge grin on her face. Sora sighed and shook his head.

"About time…" he said. "Well, let's go back…we got all our evidence, now."

"Nice going," said a voice.

Sora's ears twitched as he looked around. Right on top of the table, was the Cheshire Cat, who looked very pleased to see the progress done by the two teens. Gabby nodded her head.

"Now we can save Alice and our friends…" she remarked.

The Cheshire Cat laughed. "Don't be so sure! They may be innocent, but what about you?"

Sora arched his brow. "What do you mean?"

"I won't tell…" the Cheshire Cat began. "But I will give you something…now that you've mastered the basics of Fire Magic….let's move onto its counterpart spell."

Sora and Gabby looked perplexed at the Cheshire Cat. The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and a crystal-tipped wand appeared right in front of Gabby. The wand's crystal resembled ice in color and shape as well as appearance. There was only one thing this wand could be…

"The Ice Wand!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora blinked as he watched Gabby take the Ice Wand. "The Ice Wand…wait, Blizzard is next?"

The Cheshire Cat grinned. "You learned to use Fire, it's time to learn its polar opposite spell."

Gabby smiled as she waved the Ice Wand around, creating an ice-wall before her.

"Cool!" she exclaimed.

The Cheshire Cat's grin lessened slightly. "You might not want to do that…like the Jackbomb, the Ice Wand can only be used a few times before you are on your own…but I trust you will learn to use it by then."

Sora placed his hand on his face. "So long as she doesn't mess around…so, are you going to make any quotes?"

The Cheshire Cat looked at Sora. "What? You're actually up for a quote?"

Sora sighed. "Surprisingly, yes…"

The Cheshire Cat grinned widely. "Very well… Withering cold incapacitates an enemy more _completely_ than deep wounds, but winter does not last _forever_."

"Well said," Sora remarked as he adjusted his glasses. "Anything else you wish to give us?"

The Cheshire turned his attention to Gabby. "How fares your Hobby Horse management?"

Gabby blinked and took out the Hobby Horse, tottering a bit to the left from the sudden heavy weight in her possession.

"Still…needs…a bit…work!" Gabby strained before the Hobby Horse's head landed onto the floor.

THUD!

Gabby winced as she noticed the Hobby Horse had done some major damage on the floor, as noted by the broken tile underneath its head.

"Yeesh…that was _so_ not my fault!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "I never said it was…"

The Cheshire Cat sighed. "Maybe a few inches added to your diminutive height would do you some good, but I can't help you there. However…you seemed to have made some progress and for that…I shall give you this."

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and mallet with a flamingo's head appeared right in front of Gabby alongside a small ball. Gabby's eyes widened as she stared at the mallet in front of her.

"The croquet mallet…" she said. "This…is cool!"

Gabby ran over to Sora, thrusting the Hobby Horse into his arms.

"You can have the Hobby Horse!" she said before making her way back to the croquet mallet.

Sora clenched his teeth as he tried to keep his balance. He began to wonder how Gabby had managed carrying such a heavy weapon…

"It seems like you need the Hobby Horse, now," said the Cheshire Cat. "I'll leave you two at that."

With that said, the Cheshire Cat disappeared, leaving Sora and Gabby alone.

…

…

Sora narrowed his eyes as he stared at the sleeping doorknob before him.

"Do we have to go this way?" he asked.

Gabby nodded as she crossed her arms. "How else are we going to get back to the Queen's Castle?"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face. "But it took us a while to get there…I don't wanna sing again!"

Gabby sighed and shook her head. "Fine, let's go look for another way in…"

Sora immediately perked up to that suggestion and ran off as he began to search for an alternative way back to the Queen's Castle. Like hell he was going through all that distress again…

…

Sora blinked as he spotted something rather peculiar. There was a green bed right in front of him, but that wasn't what caught his attention…it was the rather large opening on the wall that was nearly blocked off completely by the bed's headboard.

"_Was that always there?"_ Sora thought as he examined the opening.

Now that he thought of it, this room seemed to have changed slightly since his and Gabby's last visit here. Despite this, the room stayed relatively the same…with the exception of recent addition of furniture and, possibly, openings.

"_Speaking of openings…I should start looking for a way in,"_ Sora thought. "But first…"

Sora had to get Gabby…he needed all the help he could get to get to the opening.

…

…

Gabby looked questioningly at the opening. "Was that there before?"

Sora shrugged. "I have no idea…all I know is that if we want to go through it, we have to move the bed out of the way."

Gabby turned her attention to the green bed. It was obviously larger than her and Sora…and most large objects happen to be quite heavy…this bed was most likely no exception.

…

Gabby turned to Sora, her expression blank. "How do you suppose we do that?"

Sora sighed. "We push it."

…

…

It took Sora and Gabby fifteen minutes to figure out that the bed was not going to budge at all.

"Why…won't…it move?" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby grunted as she tried with all her might, to push the bed away from the opening.

"It's like the bed's stuck to the wall!" she remarked. "Sora…I think we're going at it the wrong way."

Sora immediately stopped pushing and looked at Gabby. "What do you mean by that?"

Gabby walked back a few steps and looked over the bed. "This is Wonderland…there has to be something that makes this bed so unusual…"

"Maybe it _is_ part of the wall," Sora suggested as he threw his arms up.

Gabby blinked a few times and brought her fist into her hand. "I got an idea…instead of pushing it away…what if we push the bed _in_to the wall?"

Sora blinked a few times and turned to the bed. "That's crazy…probably crazy enough to work…let's do it!"

Sora and Gabby then began to push the bed into to the wall… It was very difficult at their currently small stature, but the two had managed to at least get the bed to move a few inches back.

…

Five minutes had passed and still, Sora and Gabby hadn't made much progress. Sora stopped pushing and huffed as he stared at the bed.

"This is getting us nowhere!" he exclaimed.

Gabby looked at Sora as she continued to push. "We need someone bigger or at least stronger, to push the bed in…"

Sora blinked a few times and snapped his fingers. They needed something strong…he knew something that was definitely strong. He held out his hands as the Hobby Horse appeared in front of him. Immediately, his eyes widened after he grasped the Hobby Horse's stick.

"Gah…heavy…" he strained. "How…did you…deal with it?"

THUD!

Sora stared wide-eyed at the broken tile under the Hobby Horse's head. Gabby looked at Sora and scoffed.

"Bitch, please…let a professional do this!" Gabby said as she walked up to Sora.

Sora narrowed his eyes as he handed Gabby the Hobby Horse. "Sorry for not being a professional…"

Gabby waved her hand at Sora before getting into a swinging position in front of the bed. She held the Hobby Horse in a manner a batter would hold a baseball bat…

THUD!

…and then the Hobby Horse's weight got the better of Gabby and had her falling back onto the floor, dazed. Gabby stared up at the ceiling, Hobby Horse right to the side of her. Sora walked up to Gabby and looked down at her, snorting.

"Tch, you were saying?" Sora remarked, smirking afterwards.

Gabby looked blankly at Sora. "I don't wanna hear it."

Sora sighed and shook his head. "Look, if we're gonna get anything done…we're gonna have to do it together."

"…Fine," said Gabby. "Maybe this is why you have a partner…"

Sora looked blankly at Gabby as he helped her off the floor. That reminded him…for what exact reason _did_ Blondie and Lady choose to assign him a partner? He was still getting over the fact that Gabby was his partner, but now…why did he get a partner?

…

Sora and Gabby held the Hobby Horse's stick together as they positioned it in a swinging position. The Hobby Horse's weight no longer fazed them, now that the two were both holding it.

"Okay, on my count…" Sora said. "Ya know what? Forget counting…GO!"

Gabby nodded and both she and Sora, with all their strength, swung the Hobby Horse's head into the bed. The force was enough to push the bed completely into the wall, where it now resided in the form of a two-dimensional image. Sora and Gabby stared at the image in awe.

"Now I know this world is bizarre," said Sora.

Gabby looked at Sora. "Really…? Bizarre? Please, that's an understatement!"

Sora shrugged. "It's all I can say, for lack of better terms…now let's get going. We got a trial on our case."

"I still wonder what Phoenix Wright would do…" Gabby said aloud.

Sora sweat dropped.

…

…

…

A card guard, more specifically, an Ace of Hearts, greeted Sora and Gabby at the entrance to the Queen's Castle. As it turned out, the peculiar entrance did in fact, lead the two directly into the Queen's Castle. So, all in all, the opening did happened to be a shortcut, much to Sora's relief and delight.

The Ace of Hearts looked at the two teens. "Are you ready to present evidence to the Queen?"

Sora and Gabby nodded as they each took out two pink boxes. The Ace of Hearts nodded.

"Very well…" the Ace said. "Follow me…"

The Ace turned around and began to escort Sora and Gabby into the castle.

* * *

…

Donald, Goofy, and Alice had been playing a card game with each other when they saw Sora and Gabby walk into the courtroom.

"Do you think your friends will get us out of this?" asked Alice.

Donald sighed. "I have my doubts…"

Goofy shook his head. "But we should have faith in them! Look how far they have gotten without us!"

"Why does that boy have rabbit ears?" asked Alice.

Donald and Goofy blinked before turning to look at Sora. Alice was right…Sora had white rabbit ears. Why didn't they notice them before?

"That's very peculiar…" said a voice.

Alice, Donald, and Goofy all blinked at the same time as they looked around for the source of the voice. Goofy diverted his eyes up to his hat and took it off. He chuckled when he saw a very familiar cricket sitting at the base of his hat.

"Why, hello there, Jiminy!" he said. "How'd ya get up there?"

Jiminy opened his journal and skimmed through the pages. "Strange…I don't seem to recall…"

Donald looked at Jiminy with his arms crossed. "I got a better question…how long have you been in there?"

"I don't know…I just woke up," replied Jiminy. "Everything after the rabbit hole is a blur…by the way, do you know where exactly are we?" (16)

"We're being put on trial," replied Alice. "Right now…we're in a cage."

Jiminy blinked a few times as he looked at Alice. "Well, hello there…who are you?"

Goofy cleared his throat and gestured at Alice. "This here, is Alice…"

"She was in the cell we were thrown in right after we reached the bottom of the rabbit hole," explained Donald.

Jiminy arched his brow. "What exactly are you three on trial for?"

"For attempted theft on the Queen of Hearts' heart," replied Alice. "It's all nonsense, really."

Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement, as Jiminy began to jot down all the information he received in his journal.

* * *

…

The card guard came to a stop after approaching the bench. The Queen of Hearts was fanning herself with a bright red fan when she noticed the Ace of Hearts.

"Well?" she said.

The card guard stepped to the side as he allowed Gabby and Sora to pass.

"The evidence has been brought," said the card guards.

The Queen of Hearts looked unexcitedly at the two teenagers, barely even batting an eye at the pink boxes in their possession.

"Hmph…Counsel, step up to the podium," said the Queen. "As for everyone else…back to your positions!"

Immediately at once, the jury and witnesses got back to their seats.

…

The Queen arched her brow at the four boxes that were set in front of the bench. Gabby was standing to the side of the podium Sora was currently occupying. She had just finished placing all the evidence down.

"Well, that's certainly a lot of evidence, but I'm still not impressed," the Queen remarked. "Cards! Bring forth my evidence!"

A random card guard scurried from the sides, carrying a pink box of his own. He made his way towards the four other boxes and set down his box next to the leftmost pink box. The card guard then turned around and whistled. Moments after, four other cards dashed out from the crowd and joined up with the card guard by the evidence.

The card guards proceeded to then mix up the boxes around, up to the point where everyone was completely clueless as to which box was which or whom it belonged to. After a few more moments of this, the cards came to an abrupt stop and marched back to the crowd in an orderly fashion.

Sora blinked. "What just happened?"

"I don't know…" Gabby said as she had her palm to her forehead.

The Queen looked at the five boxes. "Hmm…checking all five would only be a waste of time. All right, then… Choose the one you wish to present. I'll decide who's guilty based on that evidence."

Sora looked at the Queen, agape. "What? After all the trouble of collecting it?"

That Queen had no _idea_ how much trouble he and Gabby went through to find them! However, this comment caused the Queen to flare up.

"You dare object?" screeched the Queen. "Then you will lose your heads!"

Gabby gulped as she placed her hand to her throat. "Uh, Sora…I kinda wanna keep my head…"

Sora adjusted his collar as it was beginning to grow tight around his neck. "Very well…"

"Now choose!" shouted the Queen. "One box!"

Sora looked at Gabby. "Go on…"

Gabby swallowed the hard lump in her throat as she made her way to the boxes. She looked at all of them. Each box looked exactly like the one before and after it. There was no telling which box was which.

"_Oh, god…I hate this…"_ Gabby thought as she stared at the box in front of her.

Sora sighed and shook his head. "Just pick one…we have a four out of five chance."

Gabby nodded and picked up a box just to her right. "Here goes…"

"Are you certain?" asked the Queen. "No second chances!"

Gabby fumbled with the box in her hands and dropped it as she went to the one that was previously in front of her. She lifted up the lid and gasped as an image of the person she least expected was projected for everyone to see.

Gasps were heard amongst the courtroom as the evidence box that Gabby opened showed that the culprit was in fact…

…Sora.

Sora stared wide-eyed at the evidence box. Him…he was the culprit? Hold on!

"_That's what the Cheshire Cat meant!"_ he thought. (17)

The Queen grinned widely as she stared at Sora. "So you're the culprit!"

The King looked at Sora, very much shocked. "Oh, my…"

Sora stuttered as he flailed his arms about. "Wait! This can't be right!"

Sora's eyes widened as bars suddenly emerged from the floor and connected together at the top just above Sora, forming a makeshift cage. Sora looked around and grabbed the bars. They were very firm and sturdy…he was trapped. He had nowhere to go at all…Gabby was the only one now who was, at the current moment, innocent.

"You're all guilty!" the Queen screamed as she pounded her fists on the bench. "Seize her!"

The whole room began to change. The jury and witnesses were put behind bars, but unlike Sora, these bars were meant to be more for protection than incarceration. All the cards were now poised and ready for battle, their spears all pointed at Gabby.

A few card guards had pulled the curtains over the cage Alice, Goofy, and Donald were in, until they were completely covered.

* * *

…

"Hey!" exclaimed Jiminy. "I need light to write things down!"

"What's going on?" yelled Donald.

"Why is it all dark?" exclaimed Goofy.

"Oh, I knew something bad was going to happen!" whined Alice.

"I never knew Sora was the culprit…" Goofy commented.

"He's not!" remarked the others.

Goofy chuckled as he scratched the side of his head with his finger. "Well, gawrsh…then I wonder how everyone thinks he did it…"

"The Queen's word is absolute," replied Alice. "Anyone who goes against it will lose their heads…"

"That's terrible," said Jiminy.

"Let's just hope Sora and Gabby can get us out of this mess…" Donald sighed.

"But Gabby's the only one who isn't locked up," Goofy brought up.

Donald blinked and brought his palm to his face. "We're doomed…"

…

* * *

A tower emerged from the floor. It had four wheels sticking out of its sides, one of which a random card guard ran up to and began to turn it down. The cage-like prison suddenly shot up to the very top of some kind of tower that was right next to the judge's bench.

Gabby looked around herself. She was left…and now everyone was after her!

"What do I do?" she asked, looking at Sora.

Sora bit his lip. "I guess there's only one thing left to do…take them on!"

Gabby stared wide-eyed at Sora. "What? Alone? Oh, the things I get myself into…"

Sora scowled. "Shut up and start fighting!"

Gabby entangled her hands in her hair as she clutched her head; trying to stay calm…it wasn't working!

"Fight what?" she exclaimed.

"If she touches the tower…you will all lose your heads!" the Queen shrieked at the cards.

Gabby blinked a few times and diverted her gaze on the tower. _"Well, I think I found my target…huh, might be a good way to try out the croquet mallet."_

An eerie grin formed on Gabby's lips as the croquet mallet appeared in her right hand. She held out a ball in her left hand.

"Here's a riddle," Gabby said as she launched a ball into the air at a group of card guards.

The ball moved and bounced at a high velocity, hitting and ricocheting off of many card guards. With every impact the ball made, a card guard was stunned with an electric aftershock. A few of the cards had managed to escape without getting hit by the ball. They were now running towards Gabby, who now looked very…amused.

"When is a croquet mallet like a billy club?" she asked, the eerie grin back on her face. "I'll tell you…"

Gabby gripped the croquet mallet with both hands as she swung it at a card guard, sending him back into a row of cards. The cards fell back in a manner similar to that of dominoes.

"Whenever you want it to be," Gabby finished, launching off a ball afterwards.

The Queen was very much annoyed, but Gabby was actually pleased. Meanwhile with Sora, he was currently trying to figure out how to get out of his prison.

"_Think, Sora!"_ he thought. _"Think!"_

…

Sora blinked and grinned as he took out the Vorpal Blade.

"And through and through," he said. "The Vorpal Blade went snicker-snack!"

Gabby wasn't the only one who had most things memorized from the book… (18)

…

Gabby bit her lip as she found herself cornered.

"_Damn, I knew I should've paid attention…"_ she thought. _"Hold on…of course!"_

Gabby switched out the Croquet Mallet for another weapon that was also rather new. It was the Ice Wand…

"Now let's see…" said Gabby. "Wall or frozen cards—frozen cards…"

Gabby held out the Ice Wand and concentrated as she thought of the coldest things she could think of. Ice-cream…the freezer…Lulu's glare…oh, and Blizzaga.

"_Tch, that's going to take a while…"_ she thought.

Blizzaga was level three ice magic…it was _definitely_ going to take both Gabby and Sora a long time to even learn it. There were still two other levels before it that they needed to learn first. For now, learning Blizzard was a must.

"Freeze!" exclaimed Gabby.

A bitter cold wave of icy wind blew out from the tip of the Ice Wand. The icy wind was sent at nearby card guards, freezing them completely in blocks of ice. Many card guards were incapacitated as they were encased in ice by the time Gabby was done using the Ice Wand.

"_Winter does not last long…"_ Gabby thought as she turned to the tower. _"I need to make every hit count…"_

Gabby took out the Croquet Mallet and began to bash the tower will all her might. The Queen was very enraged by now.

"Get them, you fools!" she screamed.

A few of the card guards managed to break free of their icy prison. They were about to attack Gabby when, suddenly!

THUD!

A huge shockwave sent the cards fluttering back onto the ground, dazed. Gabby stopped attacking the tower momentarily as she recognized that rather loud noise. It had to have come from the Hobby Horse and if she recalled, she gave the Hobby Horse to—

"Sora!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora panted as he gripped the Hobby Horse's stick. It was very tiring…getting out of that prison… Inhaling, Sora lifted the Hobby Horse off the ground and made his way towards the tower.

Gabby grunted as she stuck one of the wheels with the croquet mallet. She smiled as she had managed to break it off the tower. One wheel down…three more to go. Gabby wiped the sweat off her brow and moved onto the next wheel. Sora joined her not long after and within a few minutes, two of the three last remaining wheels had been broken off.

Unfortunately, by that time, a majority of the frozen cards were no longer…well, frozen. They were free, armed, and deadly…three things that Sora and Gabby hated.

"Gabby, give me the Ice Wand…" said Sora.

Gabby looked at Sora. "But it only has a few more uses…"

"We are in a dire situation in where we may lose our heads, I'm pretty sure this counts as a very good reason to use it!" snapped Sora. "Now hand it over! We'll deal with the usage consequences later…"

Gabby nodded and handed Sora the Ice Wand, who in turn, handed Gabby the Hobby Horse. Turning, Sora aimed the Ice Wand at the card guards and thought ice-cold. Then, for the second time, many cards were incapacitated by bitter cold icy winds…and then encased in ice. Though, this time, the ice seemed to have not formed completely as, already, one of the card guards had broken free…somewhat. The lower half of his body was still encased in ice, but the other half wasn't.

"Looks like winter isn't going to last us very long this time!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora clenched his teeth. "Then we have no time to waste…I'll take the last of the wheels. You just focus on smashing the rest of the tower…"

Gabby nodded and lifted up the Hobby Horse, slamming it downwards onto the ground with an earth-shattering impact. Sora jumped up into the air, avoiding the incoming shockwave spreading out throughout the ground. The shockwave sent many half-frozen cards onto their backs, very much stunned.

Sora took out his Vorpal Blade moments after landing back onto the ground. He dashed over to the last remaining wheel and sliced at it furiously.

"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves," Sora began. "Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgrabe."

Gabby blinked as she raised the Hobby Horse. She looked at Sora, her expression turning serious. Sora was reciting the Jabberwocky poem…

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!" she said. "The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"

"He took his Vorpal sword in hand," Sora continued on. "Long time the manxome foe he sought—So rested he by the Tumtum tree, and stood awhile in thought."

The wheel was off…all that was left was the tower, but still, Sora and Gabby continued the poem. Gabby slammed the Hobby Horse down onto the tower, only managing to make it crack.

"And as in uffish thought he stood," she said. "The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through the tulgey wood, and burbled as it came!"

Sora gripped the Vorpal Blade tighter as he began to speed up his slashes.

"One, two!" he exclaimed. "One, two! And through and through the Vorpal Blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head, he went galumphing back."

CRACK!

Sora and Gabby turned around. The card guards were free once again…that was a problem. They were so close… Gabby clenched her teeth and charged into the center of the group of card guards.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?" she said in a questioning tone before slamming the Hobby Horse down onto the ground. "Come to my arms, my beamish boy!"

Gabby spun around, making use of the Hobby Horse as she held it out. As she spun, cards were hit with the Hobby Horse's head.

…

With Gabby as the distraction, Sora was able to continue his attack on the tower. By now, it was crumbling and falling apart. Its once sturdy walls were now cracked and collapsing under the mere contact of a bladed weapon.

"O frabjous day!" he exclaimed. "Callooh! Callay! He chortled in his joy."

…

Gabby slammed the Hobby Horse onto the ground, creating yet another earth-shattering shockwave. All the cards around her were sent onto the backs on the ground, all of them dazed. Nodding firmly in satisfaction, Gabby turned and made her way back to Sora.

Sora almost had it…the tower just needed one strong hit and no more tower. It would take much longer with just the Vorpal Blade… Sora huffed and puffed as he wiped the sweat off his brow. He was exhausted…but he couldn't stop. Not now…

"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves…" said a voice.

Sora blinked and turned, smiling when he saw Gabby with the Hobby Horse in hand. She held out the Hobby Horse to Sora.

"Did gyre and gimble in the wabe," she said.

Sora nodded and gripped the Hobby Horse. Together, Sora and Gabby readied the Hobby Horse for one last, powerful hit.

"All mimsy were the borogoves," they both said, swinging the Hobby Horse. "And the mome raths outgrabe!" (19)

THUD!

Whatever was left of the tower was now crumbling down, collapsing into a heap of rubble and dust. The cage-like prison that had been elevated earlier to the top of another tower suddenly dropped downward with such a force, that it sent a few nearby cards tumbling back. Sora and Gabby immediately ran towards the tower, their thoughts focused on only the three that were inside.

All the cards were looking at the cage now, as though frozen. Even the queen leaned over the edge of the judge's bench, straining to see. Sora was the first to reach the cage-like prison. He took no time catch his breath and just crabbed the curtain on the cage. He threw it back, huffing and puffing.

Everyone's eyes went wide as the red curtain drew back to reveal… Sora's mouth went dry and his blood ran cold as he stared at the cage. Gabby stopped by Sora's side, her eyes widening when she saw what had everyone shocked. Alice, Donald, and Goofy…they were gone.

…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 12-17-11

Okay, I know it's been a while, but first! Let me get up another date that should be recognized!

11-24-11 I FINALLY beat Birth by Sleep…it took me a while because stupid me decided to up the difficulty to Proud mode when I chose to start a new game to play as Aqua. Let me tell you this…that was my **first** time _ever_ that I have played as _Aqua_. I got killed in the first battle by balls of light! DX I didn't even think that was possible! I spent three hours in the first world, grinding until I was at level 14!

Wanna know what I did? I kept going in and out of the hallway in the Castle of Dreams, beating up Unversed. I died like three times to NORMAL Unversed… I started going farther and farther from where I was training by the time I had reached level 11. I had accumulated up to 25 potions by then. I had my ups and downs with Aqua, but I managed in the end! Though, I did end up dying once in the last battle in the Final Chapter. I was clueless and damn, that boss was HARD! DX

Anyways, now I am very much in a KH mood, especially since I was motivated enough to start the game again, only this time, I'm going Proud mode all the way! Oh, wanna know something? I have YET to die as Terra on Proud Mode. Yeah…no deaths! I even managed to give myself the EXP Walker…only because I thought I would get Break Time from melding those commands and not Slot Edge with the ability EXP Walker! The recipe only works for Aqua and Terra and has a 5-10% chance of being melded into Break Time. With Aqua, it was intentional…with Terra, it wasn't. I only wanted Break Time…which I now have, since I got it in a chest in Disney Town. Okay, let's move on and get down to business…

This chapter…yeah, it's a bit dragged out, at least that's how I see it, but hey! It's Wonderland…yeah…

Onto the little notes!

(1) From what I learned on the wiki, the concept of Unbirthdays did come from Humpty Dumpty. Yup…

(2) That riddle actually has many answers…however, what Sora said really is the answer the author, Lewis Carroll, gave…nevar is raven backwards. Yeah…whatever! I learned it on the Internet! DX

Oh, credit for **Hestic** since she brought up some answers and I found more on my own! :D Thanks **Hestic**! ^^

(3) That…was an actual moment in the book. That is why Sora and Gabby felt déjà vu. They read the book, remember?

(4) Edward Chris von Muir is a character from Final Fantasy IV. Yeah, he is a Bard from his job classification (also a Prince and Royal, but I'm using his Bard class) and Bards specialize in playing songs that boosts the party and also affects enemies. Anyways, before I go on, here's the difference between Dancers and Bards as their classes are somewhat similar in that they affect stats and such.

Bards focusing on positive support for the party and providing buffs, while Dancers focus on negative support against the enemy, providing debuffs and status effects. Yeah…that's basically it. Oh, and this counts as KD being a band geek because she can't go without making any references to music…especially since I just finished reading La Corda D'Oro volumes 1-14…yup! ^^

Explanation for class requirement: Students need to learn about positive support for the party, negative support against the enemy, and status effects…all whilst also learning how to play music. That last part, right there, is definitely me being a band geek. Ah, band, how I love thee~! ^^

(5) I honestly don't know where this came from and if it was even a _Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series _reference… It might as well be considered one, though part of it came from me being random and remembering that Sora has rabbit ears and they are fluffy! :3

(6) This, here…sometimes during a football game after the half time show, our band teacher gets our attention by saying, "Story time!" Some of the others, including me, repeat that phrase and say, "Story time!" Yeah…KD had another band geek moment…sorry! DX

(7) Yet another _American McGee's Alice_ reference…oh, about that swirling vortex…now that is something I cannot explain! DX My excuse is that it is Wonderland! Yeah, don't flame me! T_T How else was I gonna get that quote in?

(8) This…yeah, no, wasn't much of a fan of the Mock Turtle. Wasn't even gonna put in a summary, either…I just don't like it much. However, I do like the reaction from Sora! XP

Oh, and about the Knave of Hearts…he was the actual reason for the trial in the book.

(9) Three-hundred and sixty-five on a leap year…yeah, just decided…to add that bit in.

(10) I really had no clue what that thing was, so I BS-ed this part. DX I'm sorry! I tried my hardest! I even surfed the Internet to find out what part of the crown that was called! Learned some other things as well…but yeah…DX

(11) No, but you _are_ in a fanfiction _about_ a videogame! :D *gets bricked*

(12) Ahem, allow me to explain…they are in a courtroom. That's why Phoenix Wright trumps Leeroy Jenkins. Really, the situation doesn't fit.

(13) Hahaha! XD I'm never gonna let Sora live that down! Oh, and that was a bit of a reference to an Apollo Justice Abridged episode…yeah, the YouTube person deleted their account, so that video is lost. Sad face…

(14) Yeah, notice that Gabby never realized that Sora was actually taller than her until now. You, the Readers, knew that, but Gabby didn't…that's what this note is for. I always wanted to put in that Gabby was taller than Sora and then have Sora grow a few inches up to where he was taller than Gabby. But then I forgot about it until I got started on this and rather than go back and edit, I decided to make so Gabby never realized Sora got taller. Yeah…I quite enjoy spiting my OC~! ^^

(15) Readers, you have just witnessed a Fred cameo. Yup, that was Fred the Shadow Heartless were referring to…why? Hey, I needed an explanation as to why the Heartless weren't attacking Sora and Gabby since the height thing was added in right after I decided to split this chapter…I'll explain in the next chapter about why I didn't finish the Wonderland Saga in this chapter…

Anyways, Fred is going to have some cameos, ranging from subtle to obvious. Why? I dunno, Fred's grown on me…and apparently, Fred's my most famous and well-known OC, and also the favorite of Readers. Yeah, go figure! XD I really love Fred, though!

(16) Reason why you never saw Jiminy up until now…? Forgot to put him in with Sora and Gabby, but then remembered why: Sora and Gabby are on their own with just the Cheshire Cat as their guide. So yeah…don't flame me! DX

(17) Yeah, might as well put the Cheshire Cat's warning to use since. I could've skipped it, but where's the fun in that?

(18) Uh, that is from _Through the Looking Glass_. Expect stuff from it.

(19) Here comes the stuff…BTW, I DON'T OWN THIS POEM! It belongs to Lewis Carroll and I for one, cannot own it since I wasn't even born back in the day this book was published. Yeah…I couldn't resist adding the Jabberwocky poem since Sora had the Vorpal Blade…

Anyways, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, but looks like family movie time with my big sis and her family is a must. :D I just wanted to get a chapter up already since it's been a month…yeah. If you notice errors...I'll fix it later. Right now, my family's bugging me to do stuff! DX Never get any time to myself when they're here...

You know the drill! NO FLAMES! I always am up for constructive criticism, and as always, reviews just make me happy! ^^

Till next time, hopefully, it's soon. KD out! XD


	10. Twas Brillig

The cards looked up at the Queen as her face started to turn beet red.

"You _fools_!" she shrieked, banging her fists on the bench. "Find the one who's behind this! I don't _care_ how!"

The King blinked and pounded the gavel on the bench. "You heard the Queen! Find the one! Find the one!"

The cards saluted the Queen before running about the courtroom in circles. After a moment of mass panic, the cards exited the courtroom. The Queen then turned to look at Sora and Gabby.

"This includes _you_ three as well!" she hissed, waving her heart-tipped wand. "Quit dawdling! Find the prisoners, or it's off with _all of your heads_!"

Sora jumped slightly and began to run for the forest he and Gabby had gone earlier. Gabby trailed after him, not wanting to be accidentally left behind…especially with the Queen of Hearts.

A few card guards jabbed their spears at the two teenagers, but they avoided the pointy jabs…though, barely.

"We're goin' already!" Sora shouted over his shoulder. "Geez!"

* * *

…

Sora muttered angrily as he and Gabby trudged deeper into the forest…which he had in the right mind to call the Lotus Forest. He pushed aside a tuft of tall grass and stepped over it, then held it back for Gabby as she followed after.

As Sora dropped the grass and moved so that he was in step with Gabby, he heard a familiar voice resounding in the air. It came softly at first, humming a semi-haunting tune which gradually turned into a round of soft, echoing chuckles.

"_Twas Brillig and the slithy toves_

_Did gyre and gimble in the wabe_

_All mimsy were the borogoves_

_And the mome raths outgrabe…"_

Suddenly, sets of paw prints began to appear on the ground as though something invisible was walking around them, circling first Gabby, and then Sora. The paw prints then headed toward a nearby tree. Sora narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Cat…" said Sora.

As if on cue, the Cheshire Cat appeared in the branches of a tree a few feet in front of Sora, his moon shaped smile glowing from out of the darkness of the forest. He was hanging upside down from one of the branches with his hind legs in a cross-legged position.

"Loooose something?" he asked casually.

Gabby nodded. "Actually yes…Alice and our friends are gone…have you seen them?"

"Friends, no," replied the Cheshire Cat. "Shadows, yes!"

Sora looked at the Cheshire Cat. "Where did they go?"

"This way?" suggested the Cheshire Cat. "That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows!"

The Cheshire Cat's grin widened. "I heard your poem…you two have come quite a long way already. Keep it up…oh, and by the by…"

Sora arched his brow. "What?"

"_A__ll_ ways _here_ are the _Queen_'s ways," explained the Cheshire Cat.

Sora hunched over and sighed in dismay. "Great…forgot about that…"

"Had a feeling you did," remarked the Cheshire Cat. "Step deeper into the forest, into the now deserted tea-party. You might find shadows in the upside down room within the bizarre room the house holds inside! Oh, and you might want to perfect your ice-magic…"

Gabby rubbed the back of her head. "Why?"

"You only have two more uses…and I hear the shadows play with fire," replied the Cheshire Cat.

With that said, the Cheshire Cat vanished. Sora and Gabby looked at each other and sighed…they were a mess and they still didn't know a thing about Blizzard Magic…

…

…

Sora blinked as he saw the table full of teapots and teacups just beyond the gate he approached. This was the same place he and Gabby had drank tea with the March Hare and Mad Hatter…and the Dormouse. Now, without them, the area was empty and very quiet…

Sora narrowed his eyes as Heartless suddenly appeared around the table.

"_Should've known…"_ he thought.

Gabby grinned. "I got this one! Fire!"

Gabby held out her hands and expected a fireball to come out…only for a weak flame to come out in its place.

"What?" she exclaimed. "But I…I just casted a perfect Fire spell earlier!"

Sora threw the Vorpal Blade at a Blue Rhapsody. "Maybe it was just a fluke…"

Gabby frowned. "But I thought I…whatever! Croquet time!"

Gabby took out the Croquet Mallet and launched a ball at a Large Body Heartless. She smiled as she saw the electric aftershock immobilized the Heartless. Gripping the Croquet Mallet tightly, Gabby charged towards the Heartless and jumped up, slamming down at it with the Croquet Mallet.

Meanwhile with Sora,

He had to deal with the Blue Rhapsodies…not fun. They kept freezing him!

"Gah!" he exclaimed.

Speaking of freezing, damn! It was cold! Sora rubbed his arms as he tried to shake off the chilling ice magic the Heartless had just casted on him.

"Okay…t-time to turn up the heat!" exclaimed Sora. "FIRE!"

A fireball shot out of Sora's hand and engulfed a Blue Rhapsody moments after coming in contact with it. Sora continued to blast the Blue Rhapsodies with Fire Magic until he felt a searing hot pain on his back.

"Gah!" he yelped.

Sora rubbed his back and turned, his eyes widening as he noticed a new type of Heartless. It looked exactly like a Blue Rhapsody, only difference…its primary color was red instead of blue, most likely hinting at the type of Magic it can use…

"Oh, god dammit…" said Sora. "This is what the Cheshire Cat meant…"

The Shadows play with fire…great! So _this_ was the reason he needed to learn Blizzard…

"I guess I better get started…" sighed Sora. "Freeze!"

Sora held out his hands, hoping that something cold would come out…all that did come out was a weak icy breeze. Sora groaned as his head tilted to the side.

"Eh, at least I'm making progress…" he muttered.

…

Sora and Gabby were panting by the time they had gotten rid of all the Heartless. Sora still didn't know a crap about Blizzard, but he seemed to be improving with each cast, Gabby still needed to learn Fire _first_ before _anything_, and the new elemental Heartless was fire-based and shall now be referred to as a Red Nocturne.

All in all…

"I think we're making progress!" chirped Gabby.

Sora groaned as he face-palmed. Why? _Why_ did he have to get a partner like her?

…

…

Sora and Gabby looked around the house they had just entered. Unlike last time, there was no swirling vortex this time around…only a very strange room.

"Upside-down…" said Sora. "What makes this upside-down?"

Gabby shrugged. "Maybe there's more to it than it seems!"

"That is correct," said a voice.

Sora scowled and looked up. "CAT!"

The Cheshire Cat just grinned as he looked down from a higher level just to the side of Sora and Gabby. These two children were most definitely becoming his favorite Wonderland visitors…if not the only out of six others, one of which is who might as well be considered Wonderland's token visitor. Never before had the Cheshire Cat been this amused…not to mention, also thankful. There was something he had actually kept from Sora and Gabby…what it was, was something he decided to tell later. For now…all he had to do was keep guiding them. They had certainly learned a lot…

"They're hiding somewhere," said the Cheshire Cat. "And the momeraths outgrabe…want to find the shadows? Try turning on the light."

Sora and Gabby looked perplexed at the Cheshire Cat. The Cheshire Cat just grinned as he gestured at two kerosene-lamps that were on what seemed to be two separate, tall tables. The kerosene-lamps and the tables were very much identical in appearance, until the cat snapped his fingers. One of the kerosene-lamps was lit, the fire burning inside making the room noticeably brighter.

"I've helped you with the first…now the other is up to you," said the Cheshire Cat.

And, like the previous times, the Cheshire Cat disappeared. By now, Sora was used to the Cheshire Cat's behavior, however…he was still getting used to the Heartless, speaking of which, a group had just recently appeared moments after the cat's disappearance. Sora sighed and took out the Hobby Horse.

"_Next to the Vorpal Blade…I think the Hobby Horse may be my second favorite weapon,"_ Sora thought as he charged into the group of Heartless.

Sora slammed the Hobby Horse down, creating a stunning shockwave that sent the non-aerial Heartless onto the ground, stunned. As for the aerial Heartless…Gabby took care of them by using the Croquet Mallet.

"_I really love this weapon!"_ Gabby thought as she launched another ball at a Red Nocturne. _"Better than the cards, that's for sure!"_

Gabby really had nothing against her cards, but ever since her and Sora's battle involving the Queen's card soldiers…Gabby had a bit of a change of character towards cards…

Sora stared at a few shadow-like Heartless…he might as well name them Shadow Heartless since the very much fit. Not only were the Heartless black as shadows usually were, but they could turn two-dimensional…just like a shadow and they could also move about like shadows. Thus, these darkness-spawned creatures from hell shall now be referred to as Shadow Heartless.

Sora held out his hands as he decided to make another attempt at casting Blizzard. And the chances of him casting a successful ice spell? Sora had low expectations, but really, he needed the experience and he could care less if the spell was successful or not.

"Freeze!" he exclaimed.

An icy wave of cold air shot out of Sora's hands, striking one of the Shadow Heartless that was standing in front of him. It wasn't a very complete Blizzard spell as it shot out ice crystals instead of just one, somewhat powerful large chunk of ice, but for beginning Mages, this was actually the first of many steps to mastering the ice spell that was Blizzard. Certainly, Sora had made some very good process. It would actually take him much longer to learn the complete Blizzard spell as, like the complete Blizzard spell, there were three levels of the incomplete Blizzard spell that he had to learn first before anything. (1)

If Sora took after his mother in Magic, as he learned quite recently after his first attempt at a Fire spell, then he would most likely reach the second level of the incomplete Blizzard spell by his fourteenth birthday, which was around two months away.

"_Well, at least I'm learning,"_ Sora thought as he casted another Blizzard spell, only this time, it was at a Red Nocturne.

…

Sora clenched his teeth as he slammed the Hobby Horse on a Large Body Heartless. He was growing tired of them! They were far too large for comfort and they _really_ packed a punch. In the past ten minutes he and Gabby had been fighting, they had used up around ten potions—make that eleven, since Sora just uncorked one and threw it over Gabby.

"At this rate, we're never gonna get to that lamp!" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby blinked. "Wait, I got an idea…Sora, do you still have your mushroom pieces?"

Sora blinked and nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Eat the one that makes you bigger," replied Gabby. "Just do it!"

Sora blinked again and reached into his pocket to pull out the mushroom pieces he had obtained earlier. He stared at them, wondering which was which before deciding to just eat one.

…

It had turned to be the wrong mushroom piece as Sora found himself staring at his surroundings from a much smaller perspective. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face as his eye twitched slightly. He was annoyed…but at least he figured out which piece was which, though through the rather unfortunate process of elimination.

"_Here goes nothing…"_ Sora thought before stuffing the remaining mushroom piece into his mouth.

He swallowed after chewing a bit and, immediately, he began to grow to an immense height and size. He stopped growing after a few seconds, but there was something odd that Sora found out about the house. For such a small-looking house, it had a ridiculously high ceiling…but Sora didn't mind as he avoided having his head hit the ceiling…not fun.

Sora looked down, adjusting his glasses a bit, as he tried to spot out Gabby. It had seemed that since eating the mushroom pieces, even more Heartless had appeared. Sora made a face at the Heartless as he knelt down to pick Gabby off the ground, swatting away any Heartless that came near.

Gabby had her arms crossed as Sora brought her up to his level. He smiled awkwardly at her when she gave him a certain look and said, "You screwed up with the mushroom pieces…"

"It was an honest mistake," Sora admitted. "They looked alike…"

Gabby sighed and shook her head. "You do know this means we only have one shot with the remaining pieces, right? We can't afford to screw up anymore…"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know…you'll help me out with the mushroom pieces, right?"

Gabby looked blankly at Sora. "Be glad I remember exactly which mushroom piece is which because there isn't much left from the one that makes you grow smaller…"

Sora grinned as he placed Gabby on his shoulder. "Thanks…now to make use of this moment…"

Gabby grabbed onto Sora's collar and looked down. "Black Mage Heartless coming straight at you!"

Sora looked down and saw a couple of Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies floating upwards. He looked at his hands and grinned as an idea came up in mind. Sora held out his hands, waiting a few moments for the aerial Heartless to get closer until…

CLAP!

Sora brought his hands together, creating a rather loud clapping noise that made Gabby flinched. After a small pause, Sora separated his hands and grinned as he saw the Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies spiral downwards before their bodies faded away, their pinks hearts soon following after. Sora had managed to kill a few Heartless in a manner similar to killing off a rather annoying fly…only without the disgusting remains.

"Wow…" said Gabby.

"That's nothing," said Sora. "Watch this!"

Sora tightened his fists as he lifted up his right foot and stomped down on a few Large Body Heartless. Not only did Sora manage to smash a few Heartless, but also his stomp created a rather large shockwave, stunning the rest of the remaining Heartless. Sora continued to stomp down on Heartless, earning him a remark from Gabby.

"Sora Smash!" she exclaimed.

Sora rolled his eyes as he crushed another group of Heartless with his foot. "Yes, Sora Smash…and Sora CRUSH!" (2)

Sora clenched his teeth as he stomped down on a Large Body Heartless that was attacking his ankle. Afterwards, Sora swatted a few Red Nocturnes that were annoying him by shooting fireballs at him. Thanks to his current immense size and height, the fireballs didn't hurt as much as they usually did, but they did sting…

It took only a few minutes for Sora to crush and destroy every Heartless in the room, which, afterwards, he felt oddly satisfied. It might've been because he had used his gigantic size and its advantage over the Heartless as an outlet for his frustration…yeah, it was most likely that reason.

Sora inhaled and exhaled. "Finally…it's over…"

Gabby shook her head. "No…we still have to light that lamp."

Sora looked at Gabby before diverting his eyes on the unlit lamp. He picked up Gabby and placed her on the table with the unlit lamp.

"You light it," said Sora. "I need to get smaller…by the way, the mushroom piece…"

Gabby looked blankly at Sora as she handed him a half-eaten mushroom-piece. Before she could say anything, Sora ate the mushroom-piece and shrunk back to his original size. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gabby's face as she looked at Sora.

"Sora!" she cried out. "Why'd ya do that? You know I still can't cast Magic~!"

Sora narrowed his eyes at Gabby. "Gabby…the only reason you can't cast Magic is because you don't try. You'll never get anywhere if you stay like that…failure is good sometimes. You can learn from it and improve your mistakes…you rely too much on the items the Cheshire Cat gave us…just, for once, try again on your own."

Gabby bit her lip and turned to the unlit lamp. She cupped her hands together and began to concentrate. A small flame formed in her hands, flickering a few times before dying out. Gabby frowned at the puff of smoke that wafted from her hands.

Sora crossed his arms. "Try again!"

Gabby tried again, and like the previous attempt, her Fire spell flickered out. She was about ready to give up, but Sora wouldn't let her.

"Try again!" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby sighed in dismay and looked at her cupped hands. She was most likely going to get another weak flame that would just flicker out after forming…

"_Quit thinking negatively!"_ snapped a voice.

Gabby blinked and looked around. The voice…it wasn't the Cheshire Cat…it was that same voice that had told her about her memories… It was Lady.

"_If you keep thinking that way, you'll never get anything done,"_ said Lady. _"The only reason you got it done the other time was because you were so determined. But now…sure, it might've been a fluke, but don't let it get to you…try again. Don't let your friend down."_

Gabby frowned and looked down. "What if I don't get it right…"

"_Then keep trying!"_ snapped Lady. _"Please…don't give up. It's not like you…"_

Gabby blinked a few times and looked at her hands. "You're right…it isn't like me…I'll try again."

"_That's the spirit!"_ said Lady.

Gabby nodded and cupped her hands as she began to concentrate. Her eyes widened in awe as she watched the flames in her hand, morph into a fireball. The fireball was very stable, unlike the previous flickering flames.

"_See?"_ said Lady. _"You did it!"_

Gabby smiled widely as she stared at the fireball in her hands. She had successfully casted Fire…

"I did it…" she said. "Say…who are you?"

"_I'm a friend,"_ replied Lady.

Gabby blinked. "No…I mean, who are you really? What's your name?"

Lady laughed. _"Just call me 'Lady'…"_

Gabby smiled. "Lady…thank you…because of you—"

"_There's no need to thank me,"_ Lady interrupted. _"Really, it was all you…"_

Gabby shook her head. "Still…thank you…"

Meanwhile with Sora,

Sora smiled as he stared at the fireball in Gabby's hands. "Finally…"

"_**Yeah,"**_ said a voice.

Sora blinked a few times and narrowed his eyes. "You…"

It was Blondie…

"_**How's it going?"**_ asked Blondie. _**"By the way, loving the rabbit ears…"**_

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Oh, screw you…"

"_**Okay, let's get serious…"**_ said Blondie. _**"What the hell is going on?"**_

Sora shook his head. "Dude…I don't know anymore…Wonderland…"

"_**I get your point,"**_ said Blondie. _**"Ya still hate me?"**_

"Go to hell," remarked Sora.

Blondie sighed. _**"Fine…I know I've been a jerk to you, so I want to say…sorry."**_

Sora blinked a few times. "What?"

"_**You heard me…I'm sorry,"**_ said Blondie. _**"Let's start over again…I'm Blondie, as Lady calls me…"**_

Sora narrowed his eyes. "…Sora…"

"_**You're not gonna let go that training involving you dodging fireballs and fleeing from hellhounds, are you?"**_ asked Blondie.

"Nope," said Sora. "But I will try to tolerate you to a much larger extent…you really don't mean any harm, do you?"

"_**Pfft, as if!"**_ scoffed Blondie. _**"I may have been a real jerk, but I'm not cruel…I really don't hate you. I mean…aren't we friends?"**_

Sora arched his brow. "Friends…? I…guess…sure, we are, aren't we?"

Despite everything, Sora knew for a fact that there was no doubt about it…Blondie was definitely a friend. He had no clue why, but something inside told him it was true… Plus, Blondie was Lady's friend and any friend of Lady's was Sora's friend.

"_**You still like Lady better than me, don't you?" **_asked Blondie.

"She's definitely much more likeable," replied Sora. "But it's mostly because I have nothing bad against her…I mean, I'm still mad at you for that training."

"_**Hey, at least I didn't make you wear training weights,"**_ said Blondie.

Sora placed his hand on his chin. "True…but I still ended up dodging fireballs and fleeing from hell hounds."

"_**The latter of which you are rather good at…not so much the first,"**_ said Blondie.

"Hey, I'm working on it!" said Sora.

"_**That's good,"**_ said Blondie. _**"Well, I can't hang around too long…it was nice talking to you."**_

"For once, I actually agree with you on that," remarked Sora. "I'm sure we'll settle our differences one of these days."

"_**Same here,"**_ said Blondie. (3)

* * *

…

Gabby stood on her toes as she held the fireball over the kerosene-lamp's glass chimney. She then dropped the fireball and watched as it fell down, landing at the bottom where the lamp's wick was. The wick reacted immediately to the fireball and ignited, a flickering flame now burning from it. Gabby walked over to a small knob on the side of the kerosene-lamp and turned it a few times, adjusting the lamp's flame a bit.

By now, the room was much more noticeably brighter… Sora and Gabby's shadows were now visible under the bright lighting.

"All the lights are on," said a voice.

Gabby turned and saw the Cheshire Cat lying on his stomach on the table across from her. He was grinning widely as he stared at her.

"You'll see the shadows soon," said the Cheshire Cat. "They'll arise in this room, but somewhere else. The shadows might go after that doorknob, too."

Gabby arched her brow. "What do you mean this room? I don't see anything but our shadows…"

"Have you figured out why this is called the upside-down house?" asked the Cheshire Cat.

Gabby shook her head and looked at Sora, who just shrugged. The Cheshire Cat stood up on his hind legs and clasped his hands together.

"The shadows should be here soon…" said the Cheshire Cat. "Or maybe…they already are."

Sora and Gabby looked perplexed at the Cheshire Cat as he pointed up.

"Are you prepared for the worst?" asked the Cheshire Cat. "If not, too bad!"

Sora and Gabby stared at the Cheshire Cat with horrified expressions on their faces. They couldn't believe what they had just heard… The Cheshire Cat just grinned and snapped his fingers.

All of a sudden, Sora and Gabby felt a rather unusual pull from the ceiling that made the fall _up_. It was from there that Sora and Gabby realized why the house was called the upside-down house… They had been on the ceiling for the past fifteen to twenty minutes they had entered the house. What they had previously thought to be the ceiling was actually the area, which Sora and Gabby had first entered since they had fallen down the rabbit hole and went through the looking glass… (4)

* * *

Meanwhile down there,

Card guards of every suite and number had a rather strange creature surrounded. It was rather tall and lanky, but its height was not much of an advantage over the cards since it was outnumbered.

The creature had long, spindly legs that resembled scissor jacks, the top half of its legs were red whilst the other half was black. It had long black arms that resembled paper folded into zigzags and in each of its hands, it held a purple and lavender striped club. Its head was very peculiar as it was made up of several segments balance on top of each other.

Each of the segments sported a face with yellow eyes and jagged, zigzagged mouths and alternated in color from red to black. It wore what seemed to be black armor with large, red shoulder pads, and a black codpiece. It had a very thin and small red body with black, flat feet that curled at the tips. Much of its upper body sported gold highlights and on the top of its head, it had a strange emblem of some sort…one that was exactly like the emblems some Heartless bore on their bodies. There was no doubt about this creature…it was a Heartless.

The card guards were ganging up on the Heartless, when suddenly!

"AAAAAAAAAGGGHH!" screamed a pair of voices.

Everyone, including the Heartless itself, looked up and took a step back as two children fell from the ceiling and landed on the floor.

THUD!

Sora groaned as Gabby landed on his back…rather painfully. Unlike the other previous times she landed on Sora, Gabby felt pain this time…especially since, despite landing on Sora, her face landed flat on the floor. Sora's glasses were surprising intact after the immense drop from the ceiling and were currently on the floor just a few inches away from his face.

The Heartless looked curiously at the two teens, a sudden hatred rising from within at the mere sight of them. The small voice in his head, his instinct, told him that the two were to be destroyed and their hearts submerged in darkness. The Heartless liked the sound of that…especially since his earlier attempt to submerge a heart into darkness was foiled by these same pack of card guards. It was very difficult to steal hearts at his current size…he needed to become bigger, but how?

The Heartless perked up a bit as the voice in his head alerted him to an item on the ground just inches away from him. The Heartless noticed that that wasn't there before…it must've fallen from one of the two teens from when they fell from the ceiling. The item looked like a piece of mushroom…

_**Eat it…**_

The Heartless blinked and reached down to pick up the mushroom piece. The first thing Gabby saw when she snapped out of her pained daze was that the Heartless had picked up the mushroom piece which, after checking her pockets, happened to be hers…and it just so happened that it was the one that made you grow bigger. (5)

Sora noted this as he could tell from Gabby's rapid heartbeat and the movement she made when she checked her pockets that something bad was going to happen. Forget his crappy vision, the rest of his senses worked just fine…though, without sight, it was just an assumption…that was then justified when the next words that came out of Gabby were something that Sora knew, and could definitely confirm, was bad.

"Oh, fuck," Gabby swore.

The Heartless brought the mushroom piece to one of its many faces. It opened its mouth and dropped the mushroom piece, swallowing it right after. Immediately, the Heartless began to grow larger as a reaction from consuming the mushroom piece. By the time it had stopped growing, the Heartless was now nearly as tall as one of the doors…in short, it was actually as tall as Sora would be, had he been at his normal size. Unfortunately, due to everyone's current diminutive size…the Heartless was a threat.

The card guards stared agape at the Heartless, very much shocked with its sudden growth. Fear overwhelmed the card guards as the Heartless turned and looked at them. One card guard dropped his weapon from fear and shock. The rest of the card guards did the same in suite before they turned and fled towards the opening that led to the Queen's Castle. Luckily for them, the Heartless was far too large to follow them…

And, unfortunately, for Sora and Gabby…they were stuck with the Heartless. Sora felt around the floor for his glasses with his right hand. It took only a few seconds for him to come across his glasses, which he then placed back on his face. He adjusted them a few times and blinked, his eyes widening when he noticed the rather bizarre, though very much _huge_ Heartless.

"What the hell just happened?" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby looked at Sora. "It ate my mushroom piece!"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face as he stared at Gabby. "What?"

"Ahem, I believe now is not the best time for a casual conversation," said a voice.

Sora and Gabby turned their attention towards the table in the center of the room. Standing on top of the table, was the Cheshire Cat. He gestured at the Heartless.

"I give you the Trickmaster…" he said. "This shadow is the cause of the entirety of this world's problems…in fact, he has your friends. Take care of yourselves and watch out for each other…you are now on your own. This is your final test."

Like always, the Cheshire Cat disappeared…to the horror of Sora and Gabby. It took them up until now to realize how much help the Cheshire Cat had actually provided them. He provided them with weapons and Magic enhancers to help with learning the spells…he also helped out with solving the problem with Gabby's inability to wield weapons that threw off her balance…well, for the most part.

And now…Sora and Gabby were on their own. The reality of this scared them…it was real.

"What do we do?" asked Gabby.

Sora bit his lip as he looked at the Heartless…the Trickmaster, as the Cheshire Cat called it. The Trickmaster was their final test…if they beat it, they would get their friends and Keyblades back. A look of determination crossed Sora's face as he nodded his head firmly.

"We fight it," he said. "Now get off my back…you're rather heavy, ya know."

Gabby blinked and scowled at Sora as she got off his back. "You better not be calling me fat."

"Never said or implied you were…" said Sora. "Gabby…we have to be serious, now. If we don't destroy that Heartless…it'll destroy us and we'll never get our Keyblades back or our friends…"

Gabby frowned. "Oh…then…what's the plan?"

Sora was about to say something when his ears twitched and picked up the sound of flickering flames. Immediately, Sora shoved Gabby away and jumped back, avoiding the massive fireball that had been shot at them. Sora watched the fireball hit the ground and disperse before turning to the Heartless.

The Trickmaster held out its batons, which were now on fire, crossed in an X-formation. It had been the one who had fired the fireball at Sora and Gabby. Sora had a feeling that the Cheshire Cat hadn't been talking about the Red Nocturnes when he said the shadows play with fire… The Trickmaster was the one who was playing with fire.

The Trickmaster stood in place, staring at Sora and Gabby for a few seconds before it began to juggle its batons, walking around as it did this. Every step it took created a series of small shockwaves, ones that were quite annoying to Sora and Gabby…especially Sora, since he was unable to avoid one and thus, ended up caught in the rest of the shockwaves…

He was almost squashed by the Trickmaster's foot as well, so when Sora took out the Hobby Horse…he was pissed.

"Teach you to step on me!" he exclaimed as he slammed the Hobby Horse into the ground.

The Hobby Horse created a shockwave that stunned the Trickmaster…but for how long? Sora did not wait to find out as he already began to slam the Hobby Horse into the Trickmaster. It was difficult, but he could manage…somewhat.

"_I hate…this…world…"_ he thought with each slam. _"I hate these ears…I want my friends back…and I want you dead!"_

Gabby stood back and watched Sora take out his rage on the Trickmaster. It was amusing…

"I feel useless," remarked Gabby. "Sora, you done—Sora, look out!"

Sora was panting by now as he lifted the Hobby Horse off the ground again. He heard Gabby's shriek and looked up, his eyes widening as a flaming baton thrust towards him. He couldn't move…he wanted to, but he just couldn't. Fortunately, for Sora, Gabby was quick enough to react and used the Ice Wand. This time, only a weak blast of icy wind came out of the Ice Wand, but it was strong enough to extinguish the flame on the baton.

If it hadn't used the Ice Wand quick enough…Sora actually had no clue what would've happened to him. He would have most likely got burned and hurt…but he only received the latter. He still got hit by the Trickmaster's baton and got sent into a wall, where he slammed into it…rather painfully.

SLAM!

Sora stayed silent as he slid down onto the floor. After a few seconds, he lifted up his head and adjusted his glasses, which miraculously stayed on his face and weren't broken…and speaking of not broken, his nose was completely unharmed as well.

"Oww…" was all Sora said.

Gabby let out a mushroom sigh in relief. She didn't do much, except save Sora from some possibly nasty burns…but she at least did something. However…she looked at the Ice Wand.

"_This is it…"_ she thought. _"I'm on my own…"_

If there was any usage left in the Ice Wand, whatever it may be, it had no use to Gabby. For all she knew, it was nothing but a mere breeze…still, she might as well keep it. It might be strong enough to at least extinguish the Trickmaster's other burning baton.

Speaking of the Trickmaster…boy, was he mad! One of his clubs wasn't burning and it pissed him off! Now he had to go light it again…

Gabby blinked as she curiously watched the Trickmaster walk over to the fireplace and put his unlit baton into the burning flames. The baton was set ablaze, now burning as brightly as the other baton did. The Trickmaster looked at both of his batons and nodded firmly. He then stood up and turned around, his gaze focused on Sora and Gabby.

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gabby's face. "Oh, crap…"

…

Sora yelped as he dodged yet another fireball. Déjà vu popped up in mind as Sora ran under the table, barely dodging the Trickmaster's flaming club.

"_At least I'm finally putting Blondie's training to use…"_ thought Sora. "WAGH!"

Sora dodge-rolled away from the table and jumped up as the Trickmaster slammed its juggling batons onto the floor. A shockwave was a result of the Trickmaster's attack and Sora _barely_ missed that shockwave.

Gabby scowled at the Trickmaster as it played cat and mouse with Sora…poor Sora… Gabby gripped the Croquet Mallet tightly as she took out a ball.

"This'll teach you to mess with my friend!" she exclaimed as she launched the ball.

The ball hurtled towards the Trickmaster at an amazing velocity. When the ball made impact with the Heartless, it created an electric aftershock that stunned the Heartless. The Trickmaster dropped down, his batons now on the ground as he stood still, dazed.

…

Sora crawled out from the corner he was hiding in just behind the flowerpot and looked at the Trickmaster. He blinked a few times and let out a mushroom sigh in relief. He really owed Gabby big time…and Blondie and Lady an apology.

"_Maybe she's not that bad…" _thought Sora. _"Wait a second…it was her fault the Trickmaster's huge!"_

…well, maybe it was not entirely her fault, but it was _partially_. Sora sighed and shook his head. Maybe it was just him and his reluctance to accept Gabby as his partner…she was assigned to him unwillingly, so that was one reason. For now…

Sora took out the Vorpal Blade and glared at the Trickmaster. The light reflected off his glasses, giving off a bit of an eerie gleam.

"_Payback time, bitch…" _thought Sora. _"…wait, wrong weapon."_

Sora immediately switched the Vorpal Blade out for the Hobby Horse…because the Vorpal Blade would've done absolutely nothing to a Heartless that was that _big_. It was also because Sora did not want to risk getting hit with another baton, on fire or not.

"_It's still gonna hurt either way,"_ Sora thought as he charged towards the Trickmaster.

…

Gabby launched another ball at the Trickmaster as she neared the Heartless. The Trickmaster was out of it…and Sora was doing a huge number on the Heartless with the Hobby Horse.

"That'll teach you for attacking me!" Sora yelled as he slammed the Hobby Horse on the dazed Heartless.

Gabby blinked a few times and laughed. Sora stopped and looked at Gabby, Hobby Horse in mid-swing.

"What're you laughing at?" he asked.

Gabby shook her head and waved her hand. "Oh nothing…ya need any help?"

Sora shook his head as he went back to slamming the Trickmaster with the Hobby Horse. "Nah, I'm good…GAH! Take…THIS!"

Gabby sighed and crossed her arms as she turned around. After this…she and Sora will get their Keyblades back. It felt so long since they first entered this world…and lost the ability to use their weapons. The Cheshire Cat…

"_He's not a bad guy…"_ thought Gabby. _"…but he's not entirely good, either."_

The Cheshire Cat stood in the middle, but he seemed to lean towards good, more.

THUD!

Gabby stood still, her body frozen. That sound…

"_That was really loud…"_ she thought. _"Did Sora…did he do it?"_

Slowly, Gabby turned around…

…

…

Gabby's eyes widened as she saw Sora's limp body across the room, lying back against the wall, just next to the fireplace. The Trickmaster had snapped out of its daze, now standing up and alert. Its batons were no longer on fire, which was what the Heartless noticed first, after smacking Sora into the wall, that is.

* * *

…

That annoying little pest never knew when to give up… The Heartless could hear the voice in its head agreeing with it. The Heartless could also hear the voice telling it to…

_**Get rid of him…**_

The Trickmaster's eyes gleamed. It understood…The Trickmaster began to walk towards Sora, not paying Gabby much attention. It was following its own instinct…and that was listening to the voice in its head.

…

* * *

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gabby's face as she watched the Trickmaster move towards Sora. This was not good…and neither was standing around! She had to do something! But what could she do?

…

"_Of course!"_ thought Gabby.

Nodding her head, Gabby ran after the Trickmaster. She was not going to let that Heartless hurt her friend! Sure, Sora was a bit of a jerk towards her, but still! He was a good friend…and given her behavior, she probably did something that gave Sora a reason to be a jerk.

"_Maybe I shouldn't have tugged on his ears…"_ thought Gabby. _"I'll apologize for that later, but first_—HEY FATASS!"

The Trickmaster stopped in its tracks and turned around. Normally, it wouldn't turn away from its target but curiosity got the better of it…even its voice was curious. It was interesting…to see someone as small as that girl, try and insult it.

_**She's next…**_

The Trickmaster understood…saved the girl for last—huh? The Trickmaster looked curiously at Gabby as she held out her hands.

"FIRE!" she screamed.

Gabby shot a fireball at the Trickmaster. It was the only spell she knew…she would try Blizzard, but right now, she wasn't taking chances! Not right now while Sora was…yeah.

The Trickmaster watched the fireball coming towards it and just as the fireball almost hit it, the Trickmaster used its baton to absorb the hit. Gabby stared wide-eyed at the Trickmaster, who was now hold at least one burning baton in its hand…which it then used to light the other baton. This…wasn't supposed to happen. (6)

"That…was…stupid!" exclaimed Gabby. "I forgot he could do that!"

Now all she did was make it easier for the Heartless to get rid of Sora…

"Aw, shit…" Gabby swore as the top half of her face turned blue. "Wait…the Ice Wand…"

Maybe…just maybe…the Ice Wand still had some use.

"_Lady said to always try…"_ thought Gabby. _"Now's not the time hesitate!"_

…

Sora groaned as he opened his eyes slowly. His head hurt…his back hurt…his…everything hurt! Gah…it even hurt to open his eyes.

"Wha…what's going…on?" he asked, closing his eyes afterwards.

Sora opened his eyes and waited a bit before his vision cleared up. He adjusted his glasses and looked around. He tried to get up, but it was too painful to even move.

"I need a potion…" he muttered as he checked his pockets. "Damn…out of potions…"

Okay, as long as he didn't get hit, Sora could—why was the Trickmaster going after him?

"_Oh, fuck…"_ he thought.

Sora stared blankly at the Trickmaster. The Heartless stared back at Sora, its eyes gleaming as its jagged mouth seemed to smile eerily at him. Sora felt his blood run cold.

"Great…first world and I'm already going to die," Sora said. "I feel screwed over…"

And he also felt…sad…

"Sora, don't you dare cry!" yelled a voice.

Sora watched as a ball hit the Trickmaster with an electric aftershock. There was only one person Sora knew that had the Croquet Mallet and she was currently running to him.

"You are not gonna die!" yelled Gabby. "Not on my watch, you won't! I'm gonna help you!"

Sora felt uneasy as Gabby ran up to him. "Great…we're both screwed…"

Gabby looked down at Sora and scowled. "Could you at least wait to say it when I'm not right here?"

Sora sighed and shook his head. He would never entrust Gabby with his life…but he was glad that she was at least trying to save it. It gave him comfort…and a reason to trust her.

…

Sora blinked as Gabby helped him walk away from the stunned Trickmaster. It was difficult for Gabby to support Sora, given her height and size in comparison to his.

"_Maybe…it would've been better if I hadn't grown taller…"_ thought Sora.

Sora knew it wasn't his fault, but still…right now, he actually wished Gabby _was_ still taller than him again.

"You think I'm heavy…Sora, you're heavy!" Gabby exclaimed.

Sora blinked and laughed. "That's cuz you're short!"

Gabby scowled. "Ya know, I'm having second thoughts on saving you…I mean, I could get to the table much faster without you…"

Sora laughed nervously. "I'm just teasing you! Take a joke!"

THUD!  
Sora and Gabby stopped in their tracks. In the spur of the moment, the two had forgotten about the Heartless. The Heartless, however, didn't forget about them. By now, the Trickmaster was angry with Gabby. The voice in its head was just as angry…and decided that the Heartless should just get rid of both of them.

The Trickmaster's eyes gleamed. It liked this order…

…

…

Sora and Gabby picked up the pace as the Trickmaster was now on their case. It was extremely difficult for the two teens as Sora couldn't walk properly, and for Gabby, Sora was weighing her down. The table seemed so far away when it really was just a few more feet away. Gabby bit her lip and adjusted her hold on Sora.

"What are you doing?" asked Sora.

Gabby clenched her teeth. "Sorry Sora, but you're dragging me down!"

Sora's eyes widened as Gabby hurled him directly towards the table. Sora landed right by the chair. He was now pained and annoyed…but mostly pained. Gabby quickly made her way to Sora, barely dodging a fireball the Trickmaster lobbed at her.

* * *

…

The Heartless could've caught up with the two teens immediately, but it didn't…it wanted to mess with them just a bit more.

It wouldn't be fun to just kill them outright. Where's the fun in that? It was amusing to watch these two children struggle…

…

* * *

Sora groaned as Gabby picked him off the ground. Tears streamed down Sora's face as he said, "Please don't hurt me. I'm all tender…"

Gabby looked blankly at Sora. "Well, sorry…but I have to throw you again."

"Ugh…where to?" asked Sora.

Gabby directed Sora to the chair. "Up there…there's no time! Brace yourself!"

Sora yelled as Gabby tossed him up onto the chair. This time, Sora had a less painful landing…but it still hurt…

"I hate being all tender…" he muttered. "Huh?"

Sora peered over the edge of the chair and saw that Gabby was just below him.

"Quick!" she exclaimed. "Help me up!"

Sora blinked and nodded as he leaned over the edge and reached down. Gabby took a few steps back and then dashed forward before jumping up. Sora grabbed Gabby's hand and began to pull her up. It was difficult, given how heavy Gabby was and how painful it was to _move_, but Sora managed in the end.

The table was not that high up for Sora to pull himself up by the edge, with a little boost from Gabby. Gabby pulled herself up afterwards, no help at all from Sora. By now, the Trickmaster grew bored of playing and got serious. It lobbed a fireball at the two teens, which they dodged.

"Sora!" exclaimed Gabby. "You can use Blizzard, right?"

Sora nodded his head before jumping to the side, avoiding yet another fireball. He grunted a bit with each movement, still pained from his injuries. It wasn't much, but it was painful…and, by now, exhausting.

"Why do you need to know this?" Sora asked.

"Use Blizzard on that Heartless!" said Gabby.

Sora blinked a few times and nodded. Of course…he could use Blizzard to extinguish the flames on the Trickmaster's batons. It worked before with the Ice Wand…but, hold on…

"Gabby…have you even tried using Blizzard yet?" he asked.

Gabby laughed awkwardly as she lightly scratched the side of her face with her finger. "I…haven't had the time yet."

Sora looked seriously at Gabby. "LEARN."

…

As Sora used Blizzard on the Trickmaster, Gabby was practicing her own casting of the Ice Magic spell. So far…it had been difficult. Gabby couldn't even get a decent cold breeze on any of the tries.

Gabby pouted. "At least Sora's successful…"

Sora had already managed to extinguish one of the Trickmaster's batons. However, this was beginning to get difficult as the Trickmaster caught on and, well…it earned this remark from Sora.

"Oh, god, it can think!" Sora exclaimed.

Gabby looked at Sora strangely. The Heartless can think…that's bad, right?

"Sora, is that a bad thing?" she asked.

Sora turned his head. "Bad thing? No, it's far worse…"

"Why?" asked Gabby. "Fred could think and he wasn't bad."

"Because it can dodge and Fred _slashed_ me," replied Sora. "How's Blizzard for ya?"

Gabby huffed. "Fred just doesn't like you and—it hates me."

"Learn," Sora said before diverting his focus back on the Trickmaster.

Gabby glared at Sora as she tried her tenth attempt to cast Blizzard. It didn't work…and seeing Sora succeed just made her mad.

"_I really wanna punch the guy…"_ thought Gabby. _"Okay, let's try again!"_

Gabby tried again and this time, she managed to get a light, chilly breeze. It wasn't much, but to Gabby…it was progress. As for Sora…he managed to extinguish the other baton and buy himself and Gabby some time as the Trickmaster turned and went to the fireplace. Sora was now panting heavily. Using Magic was exhausting…

"Sora…are you okay?" asked Gabby.

Sora looked at Gabby and frowned. "To answer your question…no, I'm not, actually."

Sora fell onto his knees immediately after answering Gabby. Gabby shrieked and ran over to Sora.

"Sora, don't die on me!" she exclaimed.

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face. "I'm not dying, I'm just exhausted…using Magic…is actually tiring. I think I need an ether…"

Gabby stopped in front of Sora and looked down at him. Sora looked up and noticed that Gabby seemed nervous.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Gabby rubbed the back of her head. "I had ethers on me…but—"

"But what?" Sora asked.

Gabby twiddled her fingers as she quickly answered, "I left them on the Gummi Ship."

Sora stared blankly at Gabby. "…You have the worst timing, don't you?"

"This is basically how I almost got killed by a Gloom Widow," Gabby admitted. "It was the time I didn't have an antidote on me…"

"And then you fiancé saved and healed you," Sora added.

Gabby scowled. "What did I say about that?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it's hard not to bring it up, what with the ring on your finger…by the way, can I be the Best Man at your wedding?"

…

…

…

"I hate you," said Gabby.

Sora laughed. "Is that a yes or a no?"

…

Gabby turned away from Sora. "I'll talk it out with Seymour…"

Sora blinked as he noticed the frown on Gabby's face. She was still sad over the loss of her fiancé…

"Sorry for bringing up such a touchy subject," Sora apologized.

Suddenly, the table shook, causing Sora and Gabby to lose their balance.

THUD!

Sora lifted his head off the table, his eye twitching slightly out of annoyance. "Okay, I'm getting tired of this…who did that?"

Gabby didn't even bother lifting her head off the table as she directed Sora to the Heartless that was now just a few feet away from them. It was the Trickmaster… Sora was not pleased.

"Gabby, get up, now!" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby lifted her head off the table and looked at Sora. "Hmm?"

"Use Blizzard," said Sora. "I'll help you out just once…"

Gabby looked at Sora in disbelief. "What do you mean just once?"

Sora held out his hands and exclaimed, "FREEZE!"

Sora shot a wave of ice-crystals at the Trickmaster. The Trickmaster blocked off the Ice Magic with one of its batons. While it avoided the Magic, its baton's flames were extinguished. The Trickmaster didn't mind much as it still had its other baton.

Using its extinguished baton, the Trickmaster slammed the baton on the table Sora and Gabby were on. The table's central foot broke under the sudden force exerted on its surface and collapsed onto the floor…with Gabby and Sora still on the table. Cue the screaming…

"AAAAAAAAAGHHH!" screamed Sora and Gabby.

THUD!

Sora's eyes were spirals as he lied sprawled across the table on his stomach, dazed. Gabby just lied on her stomach, more pained than stunned. She lifted her head off the table and shook her head.

"Gah…that hurt…" she muttered. "Huh…Sora? Sora!"

Gabby crawled over to Sora and started shaking the spiky-haired boy. Sora just groaned in response. He was out of it… The top half of Gabby's face turned blue as she stared at Sora.

"Don't do this to me, Sora!" she exclaimed. "Not now! No~!"

Gabby's breath hitched as she felt the ground shake slightly. She turned and looked nervously at the Trickmaster.

"Uh…hi?" she said.

The Trickmaster was not amused…

_**Kill them…**_

The Trickmaster's eyes gleamed as it lifted its fiery baton and brought it down forcefully. Gabby shrieked and held Sora closely as she rolled away from the table. The two rolled to a stop onto the floor just a yard away from the table. Their distance was far enough for them to avoid the small shockwave that came after the Trickmaster slammed its baton on the table.

The Trickmaster hissed as it missed the two children. It was really getting annoyed by Sora and Gabby…mostly Gabby.

_**Pests…**_

The Heartless couldn't agree more.

…

Sora groaned as Gabby was on top of him, her weight causing him discomfort…especially now that she sat up on him.

"Heavy…" he murmured.

Gabby looked at Sora and scowled. "Just what makes me heavy?"

Gabby wasn't fat…was she?

"_Maybe I should cut back on the chocolate…"_ she thought.

…

…

…

"_Over my dead body, I will!"_ she thought.

Chocolate was just too precious for Gabby to cut back on it…

"Stomach…" Sora murmured.

Gabby blinked. "Hmm?"

"Stomach…" Sora murmured. "Get…off…"

Gabby looked down and sputtered as she realized that she was sitting on Sora's stomach. No wonder he called her heavy! All her weight was pushing down on the poor spiky-haired boy's stomach. Immediately, Gabby got off of Sora.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed. "You okay?"

Gabby looked over Sora and noticed that his glasses were missing. She then looked around for any sign of the boy's much needed glasses and shrieked when she found them…or rather, what was left of them. Sora's glasses had still been on the table when they had rolled away from it. It wasn't as lucky as Sora and Gabby had been when they avoided the Trickmaster's attack. (7)

"_Great, now I have a guy with terrible eyesight,"_ thought Gabby._ "He might as well be blind without those glasses…"_

"Gabby…where…are my glasses?" Sora asked. "Everything's blurry and my head's hurting…"

Gabby laughed nervously. "About that…you're out of luck. The Trickmaster got to them."

"Well, damn…" said Sora. "Gabby…you're on your own."

Tears streamed down Gabby's cheeks as she inwardly cried. _"No~!"_

She really didn't want to take on the Heartless alone…

"Gabby…just try Blizzard again," said Sora. "If you are able to use the Ice Wand, then you know how to use Ice Magic."

Gabby looked questioningly at Sora. "Huh?"

"The Cheshire Cat gave us the Jackbomb and the Ice Wand to help us out with our Magic," Sora explained. "It didn't give us the ability to cast Magic. It helped us out… By channeling our Magic, we were able to use the Jackbomb and Ice Wand as outlets. Haven't you noticed that when the Jackbomb was down to its few uses, one of us was able to cast Fire?"

"But you never used the Jackbomb…" Gabby remarked.

"No…but I did use the Ice Wand," Sora said. "And like the Jackbomb, I was able to cast Blizzard by the time the Ice Wand was down to its few uses."

Gabby bit her lip. "Sora…Sora!"

Sora yelped as Gabby jumped on him and wrapped her arms around him as she brought him close to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting you away from here!" she exclaimed.

Sora didn't know what was going on, what with the lousy vision he without his glasses. However, he was able to grasp the concept of the situation from the sound his ears picked up. It sounded like loud footsteps…ones that were very close. He knew that only one thing was capable of making those loud footsteps…the Trickmaster.

"_We must've just avoided the Trickmaster…"_ Sora thought.

Gabby kept herself and Sora rolling as the Trickmaster kept trying to step on them. It was like squishing an annoying bug…one that insisted on not staying still! The Trickmaster hissed and was about to step on them when it noticed that both of its batons were not on fire. The Heartless stared at its batons and turned, making its way back to the fireplace.

Gabby looked at the Trickmaster and sighed. That was too close…it almost had them.

"What happened?" asked Sora.

"We were almost stepped on…" replied Gabby. "Luckily, this Heartless is obsessed about its juggling things being on fire." (8)

Sora nodded. "I see…can you get off me?"

Gabby sighed again and rolled off Sora. "What now?"

Sora sat up and turned his head. "Remember what I told you…try using Blizzard."

"Uh…Sora?" said Gabby. "I'm over here…"

Sora blinked, his ears twitching as they picked up Gabby's voice… She wasn't to his left. Sora growled and turned to his right…this time, he was facing Gabby.

"It doesn't matter!" he snapped. "Just try it! We got nothing to lose…well, except our lives, but I'm not going that far!"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gabby's face. "Ugh…fine!"

Gabby stood up and took out the Ice Wand. The Ice Wand had to have one more use…she needed it. Biting her lip, Gabby recklessly charged toward the Trickmaster.

…

Sora's ears twitched as they picked up a sound. He could hear Gabby running… She was going to take on the Trickmaster.

"Good luck…" thought Sora.

…

Gabby gulped as she looked at the Trickmaster. The Trickmaster was just in front of her, currently placing its batons in the fireplace. It waited patiently for the flames to set its batons completely on fire. The Heartless wanted to finish everything…once and for all.

The Trickmaster's eyes gleamed as it took out its batons, both now flickering with flames. Just as the Trickmaster stood up, its eyes gleamed again as it watched a weak chilly breeze extinguish the fire in the fireplace. Immediately, the Trickmaster turned around and hissed.

Gabby felt her heart pound within her chest as the Trickmaster looked down at her with its eerie yellow eyes. She was scared…but she was not giving up! She at least got rid of the fireplace…

"Hah!" exclaimed Gabby. "Not so tough without your fire, huh?"

The Trickmaster's eyes gleamed as the Heartless swung its fiery baton at Gabby. Gabby's eyes widened. She had forgotten that the Heartless still had its fiery batons.

"_Well, this is gonna hurt…"_ she thought.

Gabby shrieked as the fiery baton slammed into her stomach, sending her back into the air. She crashed into a wall just next to the talking doorknob, which was surprisingly still asleep. Gabby groaned as she clutched her stomach, yelping when she felt searing hot pain on her arms and stomach. Gabby looked down and shrieked as she saw that the stomach area of her dress had caught on fire.

Gabby dropped onto her stomach and began to roll around on the ground. "Stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop, and roll!"

The Trickmaster grinned eerily in satisfaction. The Heartless turned and focused its attention on Sora, who was sitting on the floor.

_**Get him…**_

The Trickmaster's eyes gleamed.

…

Sora blinked and placed his hand on his chest. He moved his hand around as he felt around for something, stopping when he came upon a small bulge in his pocket. He reached into his pocket and pulled out what might have been a pair of glasses. He wasn't sure, but they felt like glasses. He looked at them closely, barely making out the familiar shape that was definitely that of glasses.

"_I had a spare set?" _Sora thought as he placed on the glasses.

Sora blinked, his vision immediately clearing. Somehow, Sora actually had another pair of glasses in one of his waistcoat's pockets. He never noticed them until now, so he had no clue if they had always been in his pocket…

"_No matter, I can see again,"_ thought Sora. "Huh…?"

Sora's ears twitched. He heard loud footsteps that were getting closer and closer… Sora turned, his eyes widening when he saw the Trickmaster heading his way…oh, make that the Queen's way (still his way, just not in Wonderland). Immediately, Sora got off the ground and started running away from the Heartless.

"_I can run again…"_ thought Sora_. "Good…I'm not that helpless anymore…"_

Sora yelped as he barely dodged a fireball.

…

Gabby was now running around, frantically trying to put out the flames on her dress. No matter how much she tried, the flames wouldn't go out. They weren't normal flames. It was a status infliction. She needed a Panacea for this…and her burns, but mostly for the flames.

"_Gah, another thing I should've brought with me!"_ Gabby thought. _"I shouldn't have gone potion crazy…"_

Unbeknownst to Gabby, the Cheshire Cat appeared on top of the fireplace. His characteristic grin was replaced with a frown as he watched Sora fleeing from the Trickmaster and Gabby flailing around with her dress on fire. They were doing better in the beginning, but it seemed the only thing that had brought them down was their lack of potions and Gabby's inability to cast Blizzard. Sora's vision handicap was easily solvable as he had a spare pair of glasses in his pocket, courtesy of the Cheshire Cat.

The Cheshire Cat had just recently given Sora those glasses sometime after Gabby had gone to take on the Trickmaster herself. Why he hadn't given Sora the extra glasses earlier was because the Cheshire Cat needed to give Gabby an incentive to use Blizzard…which didn't work much. Sighing, the Cheshire Cat shook his head.

"You'll never make it like that," the Cheshire Cat said, his grin returning to his face as he snapped his fingers.

…

Gabby stopped running when she noticed small snowflakes coming off her hands. Her hands…they also felt cold…_really_ cold. Gabby shuddered and rubbed her hands together to warm them up. It didn't work…

"Ow!" she yelped.

That's right! She was still on fire…that's it! Gabby looked at her stomach and then at her hands. She could probably warm her hands up and extinguish the flames at the same time if she put her hands on her stomach… Nodding her head, Gabby placed her hands on her stomach. Though, just as she was about set her hands on her stomach, her hands flashed a brilliant blue as a powerful ice force blew out of the palms of her hands.

Gabby's eyes widened in shock as she watched some kind of miniature blizzard, billow from her hands. She hissed as her stomach felt icy cold, just like her hands. The feeling soon went away as Gabby adjusted to the feeling. Gabby blinked and smiled as she noticed the fire on her dress was gone.

Not much damage was done to her dress, but it was singed slightly from the flames. Nevertheless, Gabby was just relieved she was not on fire anymore. Though, something else caught her attention.

"Did I…was that…Blizzard?" she asked herself.

There was no doubt about it…Gabby had successfully casted Blizzard. Snowflakes were still coming off her hands as she looked at them. If she casted it once, she could do it again. With that in mind, Gabby turned around and looked around for the Trickmaster.

"_Payback time…"_ she thought. _"Big time…"_

…

Sora looked over his shoulder and dodge-rolled out of the way of an incoming fireball. He quickly got back onto his feet after dodge rolling and turned to the direction of the Heartless. The Heartless suddenly stopped walking and began to juggle its batons. Sora sweat dropped.

"_Gah…seriously?"_ he thought. _"Enough of this…"_

Sora held out his hands and began to concentrate. Snowflakes began to come off his hands as he carefully aimed his hands in the direction of the Trickmaster's batons, which he was juggling.

"FREEZE!" yelled Sora.

Sora's hands flashed a brilliant blue as a powerful ice force blew out of the palms of his hands. Sora's eyes widened as he watched some kind of blizzard billow from his hands. The blizzard shot straight towards the Trickmaster's batons as it juggled them. The Heartless looked stunned as the Ice Magic extinguished its flaming batons.

That never happened before…the last time he used it; it was just ice-crystals. Now, it looked like a blizzard…and it was only level one Ice Magic. How—

"_Wait a minute…a Magic boost?"_ thought Sora. _"But, who knows…?"_

Sora blinked and shook his head. He could've sworn he heard a voice recite the Jabberwocky poem…

"Cat…" he said. "Thanks…"

…

The Trickmaster looked at its batons. They were not on fire…and the fireplace had been extinguished by the other teen. Without the fireplace's fire, the Heartless had nothing else to light its batons…

_**You don't need fire…they are smaller…crush them…**_

The Trickmaster's eyes gleamed. It understood…

…

Sora muttered under his breath as he tried to cast Blizzard again. He couldn't…

"_Damn…need to charge…"_ Sora thought. _"Unless Gabby knows how to cast Blizzard…then we're screwed…"_

Sora blinked as his ears picked up a sound. He looked up and saw that the Trickmaster was walking towards him. Sora sighed and shook his head.

"I've had enough of you," said Sora. "You play with fire, you treat us like bugs, and you act like this is a game! Honestly, aside from size, I don't see what makes you so threatening!"

The Trickmaster's eyes gleamed. It heard Sora loud and clearly…and it was insult. The Trickmaster reacted negatively to Sora's statement by slamming its batons onto the ground. Sora yelped as a shockwave sent him back onto the floor.

"_Maybe I shouldn't have said that…"_ Sora thought. _"I am getting way too careless…"_

Sora tried to get up, but found that he couldn't move after standing up. He felt lightheaded and dizzy… He also felt heavy…not good.

"_Great…I'm stunned…" _thought Sora. "Gah…" (9)

Sora looked up, his gaze focused on the Trickmaster. It seemed to laugh at him as it stared back at Sora with its yellow eyes.

"_Yeah, he would be…"_ thought Sora. "Huh?"

Sora blinked as he watched a ball of blue energy fly into the air and hurtled straight towards the Trickmaster. The Trickmaster saw the ball of blue energy and just moved its head out of the way. More balls of blue energy filled the air, all of them moving towards the Trickmaster. The Trickmaster just kept dodging them, slapping the last one away with its baton. Sora could've sworn he heard the Trickmaster laugh…it sounded creepy…

"My Magic's not working!" a voice cried out.

Sora's ears twitched. He recognized that voice…it was Gabby! Sora looked around and spotted Gabby, who was just behind the Trickmaster. She was frowning as she stared at the icy blue aura emanating from her hands. His eyes widened.

"_She's using Blizzard…"_ thought Sora. _"Or…she's trying to, but that means she already casted the spell at least once!"_

Sora had been told by his mother that when Magic isn't casted right, it would usually turn into balls of energy that could be blocked off. It only happened once a person learned the spell…and it was because they didn't get the concept of casting it. His mother told him what to do if that ever happened to him…and that was on the assumption Sora had taken after his mother and not his father, since, as mentioned before, he was the black sheep in his Black Mage family since he wasn't born with the Magic ability.

…

The Trickmaster reared one gargantuan leg back and slammed it hard onto the floor, making the ground shake. Gabby dodged as quickly as she could in a side roll and then aimed her hands at the monster again. Still nothing came out…

"Gah, screw this!" she exclaimed. "I need the Ice Wand…"

Gabby took out the Ice Wand and pointed it at the Trick Master. She just hoped it still had one more use…

Sora looked at Gabby and shook his head. "Gabby!"

Gabby blinked and looked at Sora. "Huh?"

"You have to concentrate!" Sora yelled from across the room at Gabby.

Gabby jumped to the side as she avoided a kick from the Trickmaster. Her gaze never left Sora as she continued to listen to him.

"If you're gonna be channeling magic using your hands or that Ice Wand, which I doubt will work…try and concentrate _all_ your power on it!" Sora explained. "Imagine the enemy freezing!"

Gabby looked at Sora. "Uh…"

"Focus your _heart_!" Sora exclaimed firmly, placing his hand on his chest.

Gabby swallowed hard and then looked back at the Trickmaster, which was currently going after Sora since his yelling caught its attention. She closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating, imagining the monster being frozen into a solid block by her magic. There it was, frozen in her mind.

Gabby gripped the Ice Wand tighter in her hands. It began to glow brilliantly, just like her hands did. Gabby opened her eyes and smiled. Running towards the Trickmaster, Gabby pointed the Ice Wand at the Heartless, holding it with both hands as it flashed pale blue and turned icy cold. She clenched her teeth together.

"BLIZZARD!" she yelled.

A powerful blast of ice exploded from the end of the Ice Wand and shot towards the Trickmaster. The Heartless barely even had time to react as the icy beam struck it in the head. The ice spread like a virus around the Trickmaster's body, encompassing it in a thick layer of ice. Gabby's eyes went wide as she slowly lowered the Ice Wand.

Sora stared at the frozen-solid Heartless and then at Gabby. He grinned widely as he started running towards Gabby. Gabby stared at the Trickmaster, her mouth opened slightly and her eyes opened wide in awe. She did it…or maybe it was the Ice Wand? She could care less…she had managed to get the Heartless and that was what mattered.

Gabby blinked and yelped as Sora threw his arms around her neck excitedly.

"You did it, short-stack!" he exclaimed. "I knew you could do it!"

Gabby blinked again and closed one eye as Sora gave her a light noogie.

"Riku would be so proud…hey, that reminds me!" said Sora. "We learned Magic before him…"

Gabby blinked for a third time and smiled. "Yeah…two spells, to boot!"

"Wow…" said a stunned voice.

Sora and Gabby turned. The Cheshire Cat appeared on the broken table. He was very much stunned, his grin having left his face.

"You two…" said the Cheshire Cat. "I believe you are missing something…like these."

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and immediately, a bright light flashed in Sora and Gabby's right hands. The Ice Wand in Gabby's hand was replaced with something she had been missing since she first arrived to this world…her Keyblade.

Sora held up his right hand, his eyes widening at the sight of his Keyblade. His hand gripped the hilt firmly…he had missed this weapon.

"It's…they're back!" he exclaimed.

The Cheshire Cat grinned. "As promised…oh, and you'll see your friends soon…there are matters you must solve with the Queen of Hearts, first."

Having said that, the Cheshire Cat disappeared. Not long after, the Queen of Hearts, followed by the King, the White Rabbit, and a massive army of card guards, walked out of the opening in the wall. The Queen of Hearts looked around the room, her gaze locking onto the frozen Heartless.

"What in blazes is that THING?" she screamed.

Sora and Gabby walked up to the Queen of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts looked furiously at them.

"WELL?" she yelled.

Sora cleared his throat and gestured at the frozen-solid Heartless. "There's your culprit…no denying it."

The Queen was about to open her mouth to rebuke Sora's comment when suddenly, the Trickmaster's frozen body began to fall back. Everyone watched as the Trickmaster's body hurtled downward, shattered into thousands of icy shards moments after coming in contact with the floor. Each of shard glowed softly before dissipating into the air. A large purplish-blue heart appeared among the debris, hovering over the Trickmaster's chest, right where its head should have been. The heart fluttered into the air slowly, soon disappearing afterwards.

The Queen stared at the spot where the Heartless once was, flabbergasted. She was speechless, for once.

Gabby cleared her throat to catch the Queen's attention. The Queen shook her head and looked at Gabby.

"You should end this trial, Your Majesty," said Gabby.

The Queen scowled at Gabby. "Why should I?"

"The Queen is never wrong," Gabby replied. "However, if you proceed with this trial, you will be wrong."

The Queen flared up. "But I'm NEVER wrong!"

Gabby nodded. "Exactly…which is why the thief who tried to steal your heart was trying to frame innocent bystanders with its deed. Had you gone through with your sentence, you would have done something wrong…right, Sora?"

Sora blinked a few times and noticed that everyone was now staring at him. He looked at Gabby and nodded. He got the gist of it…

"Exactly, and that is something we're against," Sora explained. "Her Majesty deserves to always be right and that is why we took the liberty of protecting Her Majesty's right."

The Queen looked stunned. "You have…? I mean, you have! And I shall thank you for that."

"So what are you going to do about the framed culprits?" Sora asked as he placed his hands behind his head.

The Queen turned her back to the two teens. "Hmph, they are free to go…they are of no business or importance to me. I must be off, now." (10)

Having said that, the Queen of Hearts made her way back to her castle. The King of Hearts and the White Rabbit, followed by the card guards, soon followed after. Once they had left, the Cheshire Cat reappeared.

"Nicely done…" remarked the Cheshire Cat. "Alice could learn from you two…"

Sora scowled. "Cut the act, Cat…you have something you need to tell us…"

"And people you need to give back," added Gabby.

The Cheshire Cat grinned. "So you've figured it out…well, I'll tell you. You two…you were the only ones who could solve Wonderland's problem. The Shadows have caused this world massive problems…it became much more of a problem once Alice was involved."

"About Alice…" Sora said. "There's something about her…why did we need to save her? Isn't this all a dream for her?"

The Cheshire Cat grinned. "You'll be surprise how much Alice has affected this world. In fact, this whole world is a dream that took life from a memory within a dream. This world…it's much more than just a memory, but it is Alice's dream. She comes and goes, when she likes…or not. When she does, she is always asleep… She gets herself into situations, but she always manages to make it out by the time she wakes up. However…" (11)

"However…" Sora repeated.

"That shadow…it affected this world with its dark intentions," the Cheshire Cat continued on. "When Alice was involved, she was trapped in her own dream…might as well been a nightmare. And then you two came along…you two were just what Wonderland needed…and what Alice needed."

Sora arched his brow. "Why is Alice so important?"

The Cheshire Cat laughed. "She is this world's creator…and she is of importance elsewhere. With time, you will find out where and why. Now is not the time…"

Sora sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Gabby looked at Sora and then at the Cheshire Cat.

"Go on," she said.

"You two are really the only ones who were able to defeat the shadow," explained the Cheshire Cat. "I gave you an incentive to help Wonderland out at the cost of your Keyblades…and friends."

Sora looked at the Cheshire Cat. "You could have asked, ya know."

"Yes, but where is the responsibility in that?" asked the Cheshire Cat. "You have proved yourselves worthy of wielding the Keyblade this way. You have also worked out some problems amongst yourselves… You can use Magic…and you've gained balance. Congratulations on a job well done, young wielders of the Key."

"Hey, Cat…" said Sora. "If you can do all that…ya know, taking away our ability to use the Keyblade and all…why didn't you get rid of the Heartless?"

"There are things I can and cannot do," explained the Cheshire Cat. "That was something I could not do…which is why you two were needed. I believe you are also missing them…"

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and, out of nowhere, Donald, Goofy, and Alice appeared. The three looked around themselves, their gaze focusing on the Cheshire Cat and the two teens. Donald and Goofy immediately ran towards Sora and Gabby, practically tackling the two as they brought them into a group hug.

"Sora!" exclaimed Donald.

"Gabby!" exclaimed Goofy.

Sora and Gabby laughed as their friends hugged them. They might have only met Donald and Goofy recently, but even so, Sora and Gabby couldn't help but feel relieved that they were back together again.

"It's good to see you, too!" said Sora.

Jiminy popped out from under Goofy's hat and jumped off, landing on top of Sora's head.

"That was some trial," said Jiminy. "It's good to see you two!"

Sora smiled at Jiminy. "Jiminy!"

Gabby blinked. "Wait…you were here, too?"

Jiminy nodded. "Yeah…well, I really don't know where I was for the most part until the trial. I must've been out, then…but I still wonder how I got in Goofy's hat…"

"That was me," the Cheshire Cat admitted. "Couldn't have the two wielders have a guide amongst them. It was a test…"

"Cheshire Cat…" said Alice.

The Cheshire Cat turned to Alice, his grin widening. "Yes…?"

"How do I get home?" she asked. "After everything that has happened, all I want to do is go home…"

The Cheshire Cat directed Alice to Sora. "This boy should have the key you need."

Sora blinked as Alice turned to him. "Huh?"

A loud yawn caught everyone's attention.

"What a racket…" a voice said drowsily. "Can't a doorknob get any sleep?"

Everyone's attention was directed at the talking Doorknob at the other side of the room. The Doorknob yawned again, his mouth opening widely. Suddenly, something glimmered from within the Doorknob's mouth. Sora blinked, raising one eyebrow in surprise as he walked over to the Doorknob. It looked like a keyhole…which was inside a keyhole that just so happened to be the Doorknob's mouth.

The keyhole suddenly shone brilliantly from within the Doorknob's mouth. Sora let out an exclamation as his Keyblade began to rattle within his grasp, as though moving of its own free will, flashing in different colors. Sora seized the handle with both hands and held on as tightly as he could.

The Keyblade aimed itself at the Doorknob, freezing in place as though it had locked on to something, and then fired a beam of light from its tip. The beam shot through the Doorknob's mouth and into the tiny keyhole within. The keyhole shone brilliantly, and then faded away with a loud clicking noise.

Sora stared at the Doorknob's mouth and then at his Keyblade. What had just happened?

"What was that?" asked Donald.

Sora turned around. "Did you hear that? Sounded like something closed…"

"Look!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora turned around again and blinked as he saw something fall out of the Doorknob's mouth and land on floor. It was a small diamond shaped block that seemed to be made out of some kind of gummy material. It was colored in shades of yellow and green. It was flat on one side and somewhat rounded on the other, as though it had been cut off from something.

Goofy walked over to the block and picked it off the ground. He looked it over, arching his brow as he noticed something.

"It's a Gummi block," said Goofy. "But this Gummi ain't like no others. No, sir…"

Donald walked up to Goofy and held out his hand. "Okay, I'll hold onto it."

Goofy nodded and handed Donald the block.

…

Alice walked up to Sora and held out her hand. "The Cheshire Cat said you have a key for me."

Sora blinked and remembered the key he had taken with himself, much earlier. He reached into his pocket and took out a key.

"Here you go," he said, handing Alice the key.

Alice nodded. "Thank you…so Cheshire Cat…where do I use it?"

The Cheshire Cat directed Alice to the Doorknob. "That door should lead you back home, now."

Alice smiled and turned around as she made her way towards the door. She stopped once she was in front of the door and used the key to open it. Once she opened the door, before she went through, she turned and looked at Sora and Gabby.

"You two…Sora and Gabby, is it?" she asked.

Sora and Gabby nodded. "Yeah…"

Alice smiled. "Thank you so much…and Donald and Goofy…Jiminy, too…everyone…I'm glad I met you… I'm sure I'll never forget you…and I'm glad, too."

Goofy, Donald, and Jiminy nodded. They thought the same about Alice as well.

"Well…goodbye, everyone," said Alice. "I have to get home. Dinah is probably worried about me."

Goofy waved at Alice. "Goodbye!"

Donald, Jiminy, Sora, and Gabby soon followed after Goofy and waved at Alice as they all said, "Goodbye."

Alice smile widened as she looked at them one last time, and then turned as she went through the door. As the door began to close behind Alice, a bright light gleamed and engulfed Alice as she went through. The light waned once the door closed completely.

"Alice has left," the Cheshire Cat said. "And I must go, as well…my job here, is done. Though, before I go…I believe you five are searching for a certain amount of pups…"

Sora blinked a few times and exclaimed, "The Dalmatian puppies! I forgot about them!"

The Cheshire Cat grinned. "I have taken the liberty in collecting all the pups from this world. The poor things…the Cheshire Cat is always there to help the weak. Here you go."

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and a red treasure chest appeared in front of Gabby. Gabby blinked and walked up to the chest. She knelt down and opened the chest…only to be overwhelmed by small animals with black-spotted white fur afterwards. Sharp barks filled the air as Dalmatian puppies scampered all over the place.

Sora looked around and started counting the puppies. There were at least twelve in total. One of the puppies scampered up to Sora and barked at him. Sora bent down and picked up the puppy.

The Dalmatian puppy had a red collar and black ears with spots on its back that were in a formation that resembled a horseshoe. (12)

Sora looked around the puppy's collar for a name plaque. When he did, he read the name out loud. "Lucky."

The puppy barked happily and wagged his (it was a boy) tail. Sora looked at Lucky and smiled.

"Hello, Lucky," said Sora.

Donald grumbled as he watched Goofy play around with some of the Dalmatians. There were more, important things to do and his partner was messing around, playing with puppies. Donald diverted his attention to Gabby as she walked up to him, holding four of Dalmatian puppies in her arms.

"Donald…do you mind if we take them to the Gummi Ship?" she asked. "They are a long ways from home…we promised their parents in Traverse Town that we would bring back all their Dalmatian puppies home…please?"

Donald looked at Gabby and then at the puppies. The puppies looked at Donald with their big eyes. Donald's stern expression softened and when one of the puppies whimpered, he sighed.

"Fine…" he said.

Gabby smiled. "Yay!"

Sora blinked. "How do you suppose we get back to the Gummi Ship?"

The Cheshire Cat snapped his fingers and a glowing green circle appeared on the floor. Sora arched his brow as he recognized the green circle…it was like the one from his dream.

"Use this to head back home," said the Cheshire Cat. "You will return to your original forms and sizes with this as well. It will also heal you…I believe that should do you good. You have been through a lot."

Sora laughed. "Yeah…I have…Gabby! Get the rest of the Dalmatians! We're going back on the Gummi Ship!"

Gabby looked at Sora and nodded. "Aye, aye! Okay, you heard the guy! Get those puppies!"

Goofy nodded and began to collect the Dalmatian puppies, about four of them. Donald picked up the last remaining three Dalmatian puppies. Gabby looked at Donald and Goofy and began to count the puppies. She counted eleven…and then twelve, after noticing the one in Sora's hands.

"Okay, twelve in total!" she exclaimed. "Oi, Jiminy…do ya mind keeping a record of these puppies for us?"

Jiminy nodded and opened his journal. "Okay, how many are left?"

"There are ninety-nine in total…we already found one in Traverse Town and with these, we got a total of thirteen found," explained Gabby. "Only eighty-six more puppies to go!"

Donald's eyes widened. "Eighty-six?"

Gabby nodded. "Yup!"

Donald looked at the puppies and sighed.

…

…

Goofy was the first to step into the glowing green circle. A light suddenly shot downwards and engulfed Goofy. Once it waned, Goofy and the puppies he had in his arms were no longer standing in the green circle. Donald looked questioningly at the circle for a few seconds and shrugged. He walked into the circle and was the next to disappear in the bright light.

Gabby looked at Sora and called out to him. "Hurry up, Sora! Bye Cat!"

The Cheshire Cat grinned at Gabby. "Goodbye."

Gabby smiled and stepped into the glowing green circle. The bright light came and, like Donald and Goofy, Gabby also disappeared within it. Now it was just Sora and Lucky, all alone with the Cheshire Cat. Before Sora had taken even a step into the green circle, the Cheshire Cat spoke.

"Your friend…she is different," said the Cheshire Cat.

Sora blinked. "Well, she's not from my world…heh, so much for the world order."

"I know of it…I am the one who keeps this world in check," explained the Cheshire Cat.

Sora looked questioningly at the Cheshire Cat. "Isn't Alice the creator and then the Queen…?"

"Alice created the dream, I keep it in check, and the Queen rules the inhabitants," explained the Cheshire Cat. "So your friend is a foreigner in your world…?"

"She knows nothing of her past," said Sora. "Why the sudden interest in her?"

"Take in consideration of the roles you two have been given," replied the Cheshire Cat. "She is Alice…like our Alice, she holds importance."

"What importance?" asked Sora.

"She is your partner…the one who has been assigned to you," explained the Cheshire Cat. "Take care of her…as she does you. There are others who may go after her if they don't go after you. Watch each other's backs…"

"Cat…about the Magic boost…" Sora began.

"Your friend couldn't cast Ice Magic," said the Cheshire Cat. "So I gave her a boost…and decided to give you one as well. The results were rather good. You two will learn more Magic along the way…though, it will be on your own. Are you up for it?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah…I managed to get this far…"

"Oh, this is just the beginning of your adventure," the Cheshire Cat said, amused. "Your adventure is going to be a long and difficult journey…do not let your emotions get the better of yourself. You may end up hurting someone…and the results that follow can only be described as tragic."

Sora arched his brow at the Cheshire Cat. "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said," the Cheshire Cat replied. "Goodbye."

Sora's eyes widened. "Wait!"

It was too late…the Cheshire Cat had already disappeared. Sora looked at the spot the Cheshire Cat once was.

…

_Bark!_

Sora blinked and looked down at Lucky. Lucky barked again, earning a smile from Sora.

"Okay, we'll go with the others…" Sora said as he walked towards the green circle.

Once he stepped into the circle, a bright light shot down and he disappeared.

* * *

…

…

Within the forest,

A Shadow Heartless moved about tentatively, looking around every few moments or so. Following after it, was what seemed to be another Heartless clad in white clothing. It was humanoid in shape and it carried a crystal ball in its arms. The white-clad Heartless resembled a fortuneteller of some sort.

"Looking for something?" asked a voice.

The two Heartless jumped up and frantically looked around for the source of the voice. Sitting on top of a large rock, was the Cheshire Cat. He wore a huge grin on his face as he looked at the two Heartless.

"The Cheshire Cat is always here to help the weak," he said. "You are not like the rest…and for that, you are constantly in danger amongst other shadows once they find out, no? I shall help you with your problem…"

The two Heartless looked at each other and then back at the Cheshire Cat. They were listening… (13)

…

* * *

…

Sora stretched out his arms as he flopped back down in his seat. "It's good to be back…and no glasses!"

Sora smiled as he looked around, reveling in the return of his perfect vision. His ears were gone…that was a bonus as well… Sora blinked and looked at his shoulder as Jiminy crawled onto his shoulder.

"Hmm…what is it?" asked Sora.

Jiminy took out his journal and a pen. "Tell me what happened during your outing alone with Gabby…how was it? Don't leave out any details and—why do you smell like pepper?"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face. "I'm afraid that's something I can't tell you…let's leave it at that. Oh, that reminds me…if your Queen wishes to know more about the world…look, there's this book…" (14)

…

…

…

Wonderland: Complete

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 12-17-11

Okay! And so comes an end to the Wonderland saga…about time, don't ya think? Sorry if the chapter was dragged out and everything, but I rather not have a fight end that quickly…plus, there's a reason why it is long.

The Trickmaster was by far one of the first Heartless I had trouble fighting when I first played the game. I died a few times… And Sora and Gabby are on their own…this was their first time fighting a Heartless Boss since the Darkside, only this time…they didn't have their Keyblades. Yup…you can see I used the KH manga for that part, right?

Let's move onto the little notes!

(1) That's something I decided to add since, well, in KH2 and every game after that…except Re: CoM, I think? Anyways, the thing with Blizzard Magic is that it changed form. It went from being ice-crystals to ice shards that are shot from a character's weapon…so I decided to make this explanation. Yup! ^^

(2) Sora and Gabby still have their mushroom pieces…had to put them to some use and I always wanted to do that since I watched a Let's Play of Alice: Madness Returns! ^^

(3) Ah, Blondie and Lady return yet again for a conversation with Sora and Gabby…oh, and it seems Sora has began to tolerate Blondie to a much larger extent. Yayz! :D

(4) Well, this is here because…yeah, I didn't want to type Sora and Gabby going ALL the way back through the forest and such…plus, I never got why it was called the Upside-down house until I took the time to look at Wonderland a bit better. Yeah…

(5) This here…ever play Re: Coded? The Trickmaster had a habit of shrinking and growing there, so I used that to my advantage…plus, there was still an unused piece of mushroom left. And here's something else…how was that Heartless able to get to the Queen if it was too big to get through the hole?

This just explains how it got bigger…yeah… Oh, and the cards dropping their weapons at the sight of the Trickmaster being bigger than them is from **Hestic**! She gave me the idea! ^^ I don't know what I would do without **Hestic**…

(6) If you use Fire, you can actually set the Trickmaster's batons on fire.

(7) Yeah, those glasses…they had to break at least once in this world…why? Because…shut up! DX

(8) Trust me, it does…you'll be attacking it during gameplay and all of a suddenly, it turns around and walks away from you, not paying attention even when you hit it. The Trickmaster uses the fireplace to put its batons on fire…yeah. I looked it up on the KH wiki…

(9) You know how after KH2, there were these new things put into the game? Like when you get attacked sometimes, the character will be standing about, unable to move. It has this thing over their head that looks like small little bubbles popping. Yeah, that's stunned or somewhere along the lines. It happened to me quite a lot in Re: CoM, but not a lot in BBS.

(10) Ah, back when Wonderland was just a summarization, the Queen had been persuaded to let them go due to Gabby intervening. Now, you see what actually happens. Sora and Gabby are good at persuading people. Never forget it!

(11) Of course, Wonderland is nothing but a dream in the book and the movie. The Alice you saw was Alice's dream self. It makes sense if you remember that Alice was asleep and dreaming of Wonderland. Yeah…

(12) In the movie, Lucky was named because he pulled through after a moment in which Pongo and Perdita almost lost one of their fifteen puppies after they were born. In the book, that puppy who lived was Cadpig and Lucky was named for the horseshoe spots on his back…yeah! :D

Also, here's the thing with the Dalmatians…when Sora and Gabby find them, there will be around a cluster of them together. Why? Convenience and I'm making it easier for Sora and Gabby to find it. They're really tedious to collect in game, ya know! DX

(13) Huzzah! Another Fred cameo, only this time…he has a friend. And if you recall which Heartless carry around crystal balls and look like fortunetellers…it seems Fred found himself a lady friend…XD

(14) Ah, here comes a real event that might be considered a Noodle incident…well, it's a more in-story Noodle incident, but whatever!

One world down…at least six more worlds to go! ^^ Anyways, here's why I had to split the chapter…this and chapter nine were one whole chapter, but I split it because it was gonna hit fifty pages and you know me with how I am with chapter twenty of Secret or Misconception…

It was the chapter that was ALMOST FIFTY FRICKEN' PAGES LONG…:C And now this can be considered the chapter that was GONNA BE FIFTY FRICKEN' PAGES LONG…:C I'm never gonna let that go…

Well, it's late…it's gonna be midnight and I need my sleep! DX If you see any mistakes, I'll fix it later…for now, review, subscribe, favorite, whatever! NO FLAMES! :C

Constructive criticism is always welcomed, though! ^^ Be patient for the next chapter~! Till next time! KD out! XD


	11. Separation

Sora and Gabby had fallen asleep sometime after they had left Wonderland. Sora did in fact take the first shower, but his clothes still smelled faintly of pepper. Goofy looked over at the two teenagers for a few seconds before he wandered toward his seat. After he sat down, Goofy watched the two teens sleep for a moment.

Sora had his elbow propped up on the armrest, his cheek leaning on his fist as he slept. Gabby, on the other hand, was leaning into Sora, her head propped onto his shoulder. What was actually interesting about this scene was, earlier, Gabby had been the first to fall asleep. Sora was awake during that time and had spent five minutes trying to keep Gabby from sleeping on him…it didn't work. She kept coming back to his side and leaning on him.

It was only a matter of time before Sora just sighed and let Gabby be. Sometime after, Sora had fallen asleep as well. They were very much exhausted from Wonderland…and getting the puppies settled into one of the spare rooms in the Gummi Ship.

Goofy chuckled and turned to Donald. "Hey, Donald…d'ya think we oughta wake 'em up?"

Donald shook his head. "Let them sleep…they did more than us and they were our lawyers."

Goofy chuckled and nodded…he understood. The two kids needed their sleep. Goofy turned his attention to the window on Sora and Gabby's side of the ship.

It was around then that he caught sight of what looked like another world. It was small and round, just like Wonderland had been. Its entire surface seemed to be covered in lush green trees. And even from the distance that they were at, waterfalls and other bodies of water could be easily seen. Goofy pressed his nose against the glass as he stared at the world, his knees nudging Sora just enough to rouse him slightly from his sleep.

"Donald!" Goofy exclaimed. "Look at that!"

With an exasperated sigh, Donald glanced back to see what Goofy was gawking at. He then immediately returned to piloting the ship, shaking his head. Goofy pulled away from the window (nudging Sora a little bit more) and smiled, heading back to his seat.

Sora opened his eyes slightly, lifting his head up a bit to look at Goofy. He blinked sleepily and yawned.

"G'morning, Sora!" Goofy said cheerfully. "Have a nice nap?"

Sora rubbed his eye with his hand as he looked drowsily at Goofy. "Hmm…? How long was I out?"

Jiminy popped out of Sora's hoodie. "You've been out for around…three hours."

Sora yawned and looked at his shoulder. Gabby was sleeping on him…Sora just shrugged and let her be. She wasn't doing much harm…

"Sora, take a look at that world out there," Goofy said, directing Sora to his window.

Sora turned, his gaze locking onto the world outside the Gummi Ship. His drowsiness seemed to have faded as he looked at the new world. A thought popped up in mind.

"_Maybe…this world…Riku and Kairi are here…"_ Sora thought.

"Hey, Donald," Goofy said, turning to Donald. "Maybe King Mickey's down there."

Donald scoffed. "In a backwater place like that? No way!"

Sora turned to Donald and scowled. He didn't like the attitude coming from Donald. He needed to be more…positive and give things a try. At least, that's what Sora thought.

"Hold on, Donald!" Sora snapped. "Goofy's right, your King may be down there…and so might Riku and Kairi. Let's just check it out!"

Donald shook his head furiously. "Forget it! We're on an important mission!"

Sora scowled and stood up from his seat. Donald was really, really _ungrateful_…did everything he and Gabby do in Wonderland go _unnoticed_? They saved Donald's life, as well as Alice's, Goofy's, and Jiminy's, all whilst risking their own lives, to boot!

"Just land!" Sora demanded.

Donald shook his head again. "NO!"

Sora clenched his teeth as he angrily walked over to Donald. "Come on!"

Goofy looked nervously at Sora and Donald. He didn't like where this situation was going at, not one bit… Jiminy didn't, either, and decided to take his chronicling under Goofy's hat. Aside from Sora's hoodie, Goofy's hat was also one of the places Jiminy preferred…especially right now, since Donald and Sora were fighting.

Sora leaned over the control panel, trying to figure out the works of the controls. What he did next might've been the stupidest thing he had ever done…he pushed a random button.

"We're landing!" he yelled forcefully.

Donald swatted Sora's hand away as a coffee maker popped out of a random spot on the control panel. Donald and Sora stared at the machine for a few seconds as two mechanical gloved hands popped out from the sides of the coffee maker and poured coffee into a small mug. The mug was placed on a seemingly safe spot, just to the side of Donald and Sora. The mechanical hands then returned into the coffee maker as the coffee maker was lowered back into the control panel, where it had previously been. (1)

Sora and Donald blinked for a few times, not knowing what to do with what they just saw. They quickly snapped out of it as Sora reached for the steering wheel. Donald immediately reacted to this by pulling the steering wheel away from Sora. Sora reacted by pushing Donald off the pilot's seat.

"We're landing!" Sora said firmly as he sat down in the seat.

Sora had just grasped the steering wheel when Donald suddenly jumped him.

"WAAAA-AAK!" quacked Donald. "Don't touch that!"

"Get off!" yelled Sora.

The loud noises and arguing, roused Gabby from her sleep. She furrowed her brow and opened her eyes slightly.

"What's…going on?" she asked sluggishly.

Goofy looked at Gabby, frowning. "Sora and Donald are fighting."

Gabby blinked sleepily and yawned. "Oi…can't we just get along?"

Donald and Sora turned to Gabby. "NO!"

Sora and Donald then continued to fight over the steering wheel, causing the ship to rock from side to side and tilt to the left and then right. When the ship tilted to the left, Goofy found himself sliding to the left side of the room. When the ship tilted to the right, Goofy found himself moving towards the right side of the room. Gabby just found herself falling out of her seat…and _then_ moving to the left and right side of the room.

Donald and Sora scowled as they stared at each other in the eye, a crackling stream of lightning arcing back and forth between their eyes.

"Just…land…" Sora strained through his teeth.

"NO!" snapped Donald.

Sora scowled and tugged strongly on the steering wheel that he lost his balance and fell back. In the process, he ended up knocking over the mug of coffee. Sora groaned and rubbed the back of his head.

"We're…landing…" he said.

Donald didn't say anything this time. Sora found out why when he saw the knocked over mug and the spilt coffee that was all over the control panel. (2)

"Uh-oh…" Sora said.

The control panel began to crackle with electricity as the ship began to shake violently. Donald stood up on the seat and stomped his foot down.

"Now look what you've done!" he shrieked.

"What's going on?" asked a pair of high-pitched voices.

Everyone's attention turned to the two Gummi engineers, Chip and Dale. The two chipmunks had just scampered into view. Chip and Dale had only taken one look at the short-circuiting control panel before they burst into a fit of panic.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Dale.

"This isn't good!" exclaimed Chip.

Goofy looked at the two chipmunks. "What do we do?"

Chip and Dale looked at each other and nodded. Chip looked at Goofy.

"We'll try to fix it…hopefully," he replied.

Dale nodded. "For now, stay put!"

The two Gummi engineers scampered out of the room, leaving Sora, Donald, Goofy (with Jiminy), and Gabby alone. Not long after, the whole ship began to shake, alarms going off and assorted yells escaping from various throats.

Sora grabbed onto the steering wheel and veered it towards the lush world of green foliage. He might've moved it a bit too hard, because the next thing that any of them knew, they were hurtling dangerously toward the surface of the world.

Clouds were suddenly shooting past them on all sides as the ship spun and fell through the atmosphere. And Sora suddenly found himself separated from the ship, falling out of the sky, limbs flailing. His eyes widened as he hurtled downwards, head-first.

The treetops seemed to be shooting toward Sora's face as he neared them. He braced himself as he fell through layer upon layer of leaves and branches. Sora's eyes widened as, seemingly out of nowhere, a wooden rooftop appeared before him.

"WHOA!" he yelled.

Sora gritted his teeth as he smashed through the wood planks. He landed with a loud, painful "THUD" in the middle of a big cloud of dust. The place practically shook from Sora's landing.

…

Sora rolled onto his back and sat up off the wooden floor, tenderly rubbing the back of his head. His eyes were opened slightly as he clenched his teeth.

"Oww…my head…" Sora groaned.

His head hurt…it was almost unbearable… Sora coughed and wheezed from the dust in the air. After a few moments, Sora recovered from his coughing fit and looked around his surroundings…or rather, he tried. His vision was blurry and his head was giving him a massive migraine. Sora groaned as he clutched his head and keeled over onto the floor.

"Can't…urk…blacking out…" was what Sora said before he passed out.

Sora had passed out within a rather large, wooden tree house. There was absolutely no furniture on the inside whatsoever, only various crates, boxes, and barrels. Vines were on the tree house's wooden planks and had other kinds of foliage growing between the cracks.

The entire place seemed extremely old and abandoned. The rooftop seemed sturdy enough, save the part where Sora had fallen through.

All of the beams were still perfectly in place above. There was a second story, though the stairs had been broken, making that level inaccessible (there was no bottom half). There were several windows, all of them with the glass still in place. Soft sunlight streamed through them and spilled across the floor as the sun rose into the sky.

…

Gabby's eyes widened as she saw hurtled downward towards leafy-green treetops. She screamed as she braced herself, crashing through the first part of the treetops. Unfortunately, there were more branches hidden underneath the treetops, as Gabby found out as she _crashed_ through _many_ of them. She shrieked and yelped in pain with every impact she made with a branch. By the time she had finished crashing and hitting many branches, she landed facedown on something that was rather thick-skinned…

"OOMPH!" was what Gabby said upon impact.

Gabby groaned as her body _hurt_ everywhere. She had at least broken around eight branches when she crashed down the treetops and hit around fifteen branches. She was actually surprised she was still alive…though, pained. Then again, Destiny Islands Academy broke her body into withstanding immense hits of strength and such…and her ribbons, plus two chaos anklets, might've have also softened most of the blows. Still, she was in _pain_…

"Gah…" she uttered. "Wah…"

Gabby's eyes wavered as her vision blurred. She could've sworn she heard a loud, trumpet-like noise that sounded rather alarmed. Before she could even look to see what it was, she blacked out from pain.

…

Unlike Sora and Gabby, Donald and Goofy had a much softer landing as they had fallen into a large, pool of water at the bottom of a waterfall.

SPLASH!

…

…

…

Donald and Goofy's heads popped out of the water as they inhaled deeply. Donald coughed a few times and reached for his hat. He took it off and closed his eyes as water poured out of his hat. Goofy scratched his head as he looked around for his hat and found it floating right by his side. He chuckled and picked up his hat, holding out his hand as he tipped his hat.

From out of Goofy's hat, poured water and then, suddenly, Jiminy dropped out. Jiminy then landed softly in Goofy's palm, coughing and wheezing as he had managed to breathe in some water. Afterwards, Jiminy looked up and smiled at Goofy.

"Thank you!" he said.

Goofy nodded. "No problem!"

Jiminy nodded again and gasped as he pulled out his journal. He sighed in relief when he saw the water hadn't done any damage to his journal. He then chuckled as he remembered his journal had been a gift from Queen Minnie, one that had been enchanted so that it would withstand most situations that normal journals wouldn't usually survive…like water damage. (3)

"Say, Donald, where are we?" Goofy asked as he looked around.

Donald looked around and took note of their surroundings. There was a large waterfall across from them. It cascaded down from the top of a massive cliff. There were many trees and vegetation growing about within the forest…no, forest wasn't the right word…

"We're in a jungle," Donald finally said.

Jiminy blinked and looked around. "That seems about right…oh, no! Where are Sora and Gabby?"

Goofy looked to his left and then his right. "They don't seem to be here…"

Donald muttered angrily as he waded out of the water. Donald didn't want to hear anything about Sora…nothing whatever! Once he reached land, he climbed out of the water and started wringing his clothes.

Goofy looked questioningly at Donald. "Uh, Donald…?"

"Bah, who needs him!" Donald suddenly snapped.

Goofy frowned and looked at Jiminy. It was obvious that Donald wasn't up for talking about Sora…

"What about Gabby?" Goofy asked.

Donald narrowed his eyes at Goofy, sighing when he saw the frown on Goofy's face. "Fine, we'll look for her—"

"And Sora?" Goofy added.

Donald crossed his arms and huffed. "All right, him too!"

Goofy smiled as he had at least managed to get to Donald into including Sora, as well. Donald was just probably mad and didn't want to admit he was actually worried about Sora. Now, there came the question…where were Sora and Gabby?

…

It was only morning when Sora passed out…by the time he came to, the sun was already positioned in the highest point in the sky. It was most likely noon…

Sora groaned and rolled away into the shade as the sunlight's rays were beginning to make him feel overheated. The cool moss felt nice on his rather warm face… Sora opened his eyes slightly, making a face when he heard his stomach growl. It was rather uncomfortable…being hungry, that is. At least for Sora, who hadn't eaten a proper meal since Traverse Town…Wonderland only sated him with snacks and things that make him shrink and grow big.

Fully awake now, Sora rolled onto his back and sat up, wincing as he felt his head throb. He clutched his head and hunched over as he try to ease his pain.

"_I really…need a potion…"_ he thought. (4)

Sora blinked and lifted his head as he looked around, having heard some rustling. His heartbeat began to speed up as he remembered that he was alone…in a world he knew nothing of.

"Uh…" he said as he backed up a bit.

Sora winced as his head throbbed again. Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched. Hanging from one of the beams on the ceiling, was a muscular young man with tanned skin and light green-blue eyes. The young man had brown hair styled into long dreadlocks and was clad in nothing but a tattered, brown loincloth.

The young man watched the boy curiously before climbing onto the beam, moving over to a different location in hopes of getting a better look at the boy in red. He had discovered the boy much earlier, having gone to investigate the abandoned tree house after hearing a disturbance during the morning. The boy had been the most intriguing discovery the young man had ever made.

For one thing, the boy was nothing like him…much younger, in fact. He was also much smaller in stature…with the most peculiar hair that spiked up in places. Though, what had caught the young man's attention the most was that the boy had hands just like his…though, they were rather big. And a heartbeat, which the young man checked earlier because he had thought the boy was dead.

"Donald?" the boy spoke. "Goofy?"

The young man blinked and tilted his head to the side. What was the boy talking about? It looked like he was looking for someone… Seeing that he was awake, the young man decided that he had enough of just looking.

…

Sora looked around, not bothering to look up. "Who's there?"

Sora froze as he heard something behind him. Slowly, he turned around…and found himself face to face with someone. Green-blue eyes stared into his blue eyes. Sora's eyes widened as he shrieked and stumbled back, landing flat on his rear end.

His heart was pounding within his chest as he breathed in and out, somewhat panicked. Sora stared wide-eyed at the stranger before him. It was a young man…but he seemed to not be like him. The young man stared at Sora curiously before walking over to him.

What Sora found peculiar about this was that the young man walked on all fours…almost like a monkey—no, more like an ape of some sort…a gorilla, maybe.

"Who…who are you?" Sora asked.

The young man stopped in his tracks and looked questioningly at Sora. After a few seconds, the man spoke. "Who are you?"

Sora sighed in relief. The man could talk…that was good…maybe he knew where his friends were! Sora smiled.

"Hey, have you seen my friends?" he asked.

The young man stared at Sora. "…"

Sora placed his hands on his chest as he repeated, "Friends."

The young man blinked and nodded as he placed his hands on his chest. "Friends!"

Sora's smile fell as he realized…the young man had just been repeating what he said… everything up to the last word, which Sora had a feeling the young man at least understood the meaning of. It was as if Sora had been talking to a child learning how to speak. He was never going to get anywhere this way… Sora sighed and shook his head.

"Never mind…" he said.

The young man looked at Sora as he said, "Friends…"

Sora looked at the young man. "So…you know where they might be?"

The next thing that came out of the young man's mouth was nothing that Sora had ever heard before. The young man had been grunting…but it sounded different…almost like a gorilla. Sora arched his brow at the young man. The young man…he was definitely different, no doubt about that.

"Huh?" Sora said.

The young man grunted again, repeating exactly what he had said before. Sora's eyes widened…the young man had been telling him something, but what? Sora yelped as his head began to throb. Everything…all he wanted to do was find Riku and Kairi…crap!

"Gabby!" he exclaimed.

The young man looked at Sora. "Gabby…?"

Sora blinked and looked at the young man. "Gabby…friend…"

The young man placed his hands on his chest. "Gabby, friend…"

Sora smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah…she's a friend…we're lost. Our other friends…they're lost, too…Riku and Kairi…Don—"

Sora's eyes widened as he remembered what had happened on the Gummi Ship. He scowled and shook his head. Donald…all of this is Donald's fault! If he had just landed the Gummi Ship like Sora had told him to, none of this would've happened…

"Riku, friend…" the young man said. "Kairi, friend…?"

Sora looked at the young man, his jaw dropping slightly when he saw something that caused his heart to nearly stop. His breath hitched as he stared wide-eyed at the girl behind the young man.

…It was Kairi. Kairi looked at Sora silently with her hands behind her back. She then turned away in the most snobbish manner, with her chin held up and her eyes closed. Kairi walked off to the side until she was completely out of view behind the young man. After that, it was almost as if Kairi had disappeared…

Sora frowned and shook his head. Of course, he had to have been hallucinating…it was probably his head's throbbing pain doing all of that. Sora blinked as the young man tried to catch his attention. A smile crossed the young man's expression as he thumped his chest softly.

"Tarzan…" he said.

Sora arched his brow. "Wha…?"

"Tar-zan…" the young man repeated much slower.

Sora's eyes widened in realization…the young man had introduced himself…his name was Tarzan. "Tarzan…"

The young man's expression brightened at the sound of his name. He grunted as he stared intently at Sora. Sora blinked and nodded. Tarzan wanted to know his name…

"Oh, I'm Sora," said Sora.

Tarzan nodded and gestured at himself as he said, "Tarzan." He then gestured at Sora and said, "Oh, I'm Sora." (5)

Sora arched his brow and resisted the urge to slap his forehead. Tarzan thought that was his name… Sighing, Sora gestured at himself.

"Sora…" he said, and then slowly enunciated his name as he said, "So-ra…"

Tarzan looked at Sora questioningly. "Sora…"

Sora nodded. "That's right!"

Tarzan smiled. "Sora!"

_Growl…_

Sora's face reddened as his stomach let out an audible growl. That's right…he was hungry. Tarzan looked at Sora questioningly and nodded. Sora blinked as Tarzan gestured at him to follow.

"Sora…" said Tarzan.

Sora nodded and got up off the floor, clutching his head as it began to throb once more. He _really_ needed a potion…

…

…

Gabby opened her eyes slightly, wincing at the bright rays of sunlight that were shining on her face. She closed her eyes as she used her hands to shield her face from the sunlight. She winced as her head began to throb.

"Ugh…" she groaned. "Where…am I?"

She felt pained all over…she also felt very sluggish. She almost went back to sleep…until she heard some noises. Immediately, Gabby sat up and looked around, now wide-awake and alert.

"Who's there?" she asked, frantically looking around. "Whoa…"

Gabby took in the view of her surroundings…she was in a jungle. It was beautiful, in its own naturalistic beauty.

"What…happened?" she asked. "Huh?"

Gabby looked down and realized that she had been sleeping on a pile of leaves…they almost resembled a nest. She shook her head and looked around.

"Sora…?" she said. "Donald…Goofy…? Where are you?"

Unbeknownst to Gabby, she was being watched.

…

A rust-red elephant looked nervously at the girl, practically trembling as he stared at her. The girl had given him a nasty scare when she had fallen onto his back. A female gorilla stood next to the elephant. She rolled her eyes at him.

"It's not gonna hurt us, Tantor," she reassured the elephant. "I mean, look at it…it's just probably lost."

The elephant's expression turned sheepish. "Well, when you put it that way…hey, Terk…don't you think that thing looks like Tarzan?"

Terk turned to Tantor and then diverted her gaze on the girl. "Now that you mention it…yeah, it kinda does… Though, it looks scrawny and short…"

"Maybe it's just young," Tantor brought up. "Maybe it's female…"

Terk rubbed the back of her head. "Does sound plausible…"

Suddenly, the girl turned around and faced the two animals. Tantor and Terk were hidden behind thick, jungle shrubbery; however, due to Tantor's size…they weren't that well hidden. The girl could see parts of the elephant sticking out from the shrubbery.

…

Gabby blinked and slowly took a step forward. She could see something behind the jungle shrubbery…it looked like a large-sized animal. She tilted her head to the side and took another step forward.

…

"She's spotted us!" Tantor exclaimed fearfully. "What do we do?"

Terk looked blankly at Tantor. "Maybe you could start by quieting down…"

"Hello?" said a voice.

Tantor and Terk froze as their gaze turned to the girl who peered through the shrubbery. She stared questioningly at them.

"Uh…hi?" she said, smiling nervously.

Tantor's eyes widened as he let out a startled trumpet-like noise from his trunk. Terk backed away from the girl, very wary of her now that she realized the girl was close by.

…

Gabby blinked and slowly stepped back. "Shh, shh…I'm not gonna hurt you…I'm sorry if I bothered you…"

The elephant and the gorilla kept their gazes locked on Gabby, never once turning away. They watched her closely, paying close attention to every movement she made. Gabby stopped looking at them and looked at herself, shrieking when she saw that her clothes were ripped.

"Aw, man!" she exclaimed. "My clothes…"

Gabby frowned as she looked at her uniform. Her shirt had tears at the side, her skirt was tattered at the ends, and her stockings had a few runs in them. She was also covered in bruises and had numerous scratches on herself, though, thankfully, none of them was bleeding. She still had her shoes, her ribbons, chaos anklets, and necklace. They were still intact, much to her delight. (6)

"_Now that I think about it, it could've been worse…"_ she thought.

Though, she was still in pain and she was lost… Blinking, Gabby noticed that the animals had left. Sighing, she decided to start looking for her friends.

"_Might as well…"_ she thought.

_Growl…_

Gabby's eye twitched as her stomach growled loudly. "I think I better look for some food, first…"

Gabby clutched her stomach as she set off to look for food…and her friends. What she didn't know, was that the two animals were still watching her. Terk, being very persuasive and assertive, managed to drag Tantor along with her as she and him followed after the girl. She was too interesting to leave alone.

…

Sora stared in awe at the outside area surrounding the tree house. Tarzan looked over at Sora as the boy looked around, absorbing the beautiful sea of green trees that stretched out as far as the eye could see. The house was situated in the branches of a large tree. Beneath the house was a large net, possibly to prevent any accidents from happening.

There was a small boat dangling on a rope from a branch in front of the house. Sora stared at it for a few seconds and nodded as he eventually realized that it was probably used to bring heavy things up to the house from further below, within the depths of the jungle. Sora could hear various animal calls echoing throughout the jungle, almost in harmony.

"Whoa…" Sora breathed.

"Sora…" said Tarzan.

Sora blinked and looked at Tarzan. Tarzan was urging him to follow, to which Sora complied. But before he did, Sora took the time to take off his shoes. He didn't want to risk losing his shoes or ruining them during his trek through the jungle. Gods know how many times he lost a good pair of shoes going through the island's jungle… (7)

Sora decided to leave his shoes at the entrance of the tree house. He would come back for them later once he got familiar with his surroundings. Nodding his head, Sora dashed towards Tarzan.

Tarzan led Sora down from the tree house into a tunnel of tree branches and stones overgrown with moss. Suddenly, Tarzan picked up Sora by the back of his belt and tossed the spiky-haired boy into a hollow tree trunk, which Sora slid down, screaming bloody murder. He did _not_ expect that!

Tarzan followed after Sora, making sure to keep a watchful eye on the younger boy. He knew that Sora was less experienced that him.

…

"Whoa!" exclaimed Sora.

Sora found himself sliding down on the slippery moss-covered trunk. Sora looked back, his eyes widening in awe as he watched Tarzan doing the same as him…only, in a much more experienced manner. Tarzan slid down the moss-covered trunk almost as if he was riding a skateboard or surfing on a wave.

Tarzan stood on the trunk with one leg positioned in front of the other in a crouched position, balancing himself with his arms. He looked at Sora and encouraged the boy to give it a try. Sora swallowed nervously and maneuvered himself in a position similar to Tarzan's position. It didn't take long for Sora to get the hang of sliding down the tree trunk.

Sora was actually glad he took off his shoes. Something told him that his shoes wouldn't have let him slide down on the moss as easily as he was currently doing now, barefooted. Sora closed his eyes slightly as he and Tarzan slid out of the hollow tree, the bright light nearly blinding Sora.

"Gah…" he said. "Huh…"

Sora blinked a few times and looked around, his eyes widening in awe. He could see everything…well, not everything, but part of it…the jungle, that is. He had no clue how far above he and Tarzan were, but it was breathtakingly amazing up here. Surfing down the moss-covered tree trunk was amazing…

"_Riku would so be jealous…"_ he thought. "Huh? Wah!"

Sora's eyes widened as he saw that he and Tarzan were approaching an end on the tree trunk. If they kept going, they would fall off! Sora looked at Tarzan and saw that the young man was not worried…not one bit. Tarzan was calm and collected; in fact, he leaned forward, gaining some speed as he passed Sora.

Tarzan approached the end of the tree trunk head on and jumped off. Sora soon followed after, though, unwillingly and very much frightened.

…

"AAAAGHHH!" screamed Sora.

Sora braced himself as he plunged through the treetops. He had no clue where Tarzan had gone as the young man had already disappeared into the deep, jungle greenery. Sora had avoided crashing into a few tree branches, but had managed to at least break one of them. It had been painful…and he could've sworn he heard a rip.

"_Here's to clothing damage…"_ Sora thought, yelling when he realized that he was getting much closer and closer to hitting the ground. (8)

Sora closed his eyes and prepared for his landing, which, after a full minute, he realized never came. Sora opened his eyes reluctantly and realized that he was hanging above the ground.

"Huh?" he said.

Sora looked left to right and finally, up. He blinked when he saw Tarzan was holding him by the belt as he hung onto a green vine with his free hand. Tarzan looked at Sora and directed the boy's attention to another green vine, just right in front of him. Then, without warning, Tarzan tossed Sora towards the vine.

Sora let out an exclamation and reacted quickly, immediately grabbing onto the vine once it was in his reach. Sora grabbed onto the vine with both hands and gripped it tightly, stopping his movement downwards at once. He held onto the vine tightly like a rope, his body trembling as he was quite shaken up. He was not used to surprises like these…

"Sora," said Tarzan.

Sora looked at Tarzan and watched him swing to another vine. Tarzan gestured at Sora, encouraging him to do the same. Sora bit his lip and, after a few seconds, did what he was told. He swung to another vine and soon, he and Tarzan were swinging from vine to vine. Sora's initial fear and distress had gone away, now replaced with utter glee.

Sora let out an exclamation of excitement as he continued to swing from vine to vine, following after Tarzan. Tarzan had a small smile on his face, having seen how much different Sora had become. He was happier, that's for sure…and he was much more outgoing, no longer nervous. All it took was a little push…

…

…

…

Donald grumbled as he pushed away a couple of branches. He looked around and called out, "Gabby!"

Goofy was currently up a tree, having climbed up to get a better view. "Sora!"

Jiminy was writing in his journal, keeping track of their search. So far…they hadn't found Sora or Gabby… Sighing, Jiminy turned a few pages and started to jot down information about the new world.

…

…

Gabby shrieked as she lost her footing and slipped down the tree she was trying to climb. She landed painfully on her back. She stared up at the leafy green treetops that had been blocking the clear view of the sky with a dazed expression.

"Ugh…" she said.

It took her a full minute to recover from her daze, after which she looked ungratefully at her shoes. She then decided she had had enough and started pulling off her shoes. Once off, she took off her stockings and stuffed them into her shoes. She looked at her shoes and nodded firmly in satisfaction as she set them down onto the ground.

The ground was soft, and somewhat moist… It felt nice…

"_Okay, let's try this again…"_ Gabby thought as she diverted her attention to the tree.

…

Gabby grunted as she pulled herself up onto a tree branch. With her shoes off, it was much easier to keep a steady footing. Her penny loafers weren't made for climbing trees…that's what her other shoes she used for Gym class were meant to do. Unfortunately, Gabby was still in her basic school uniform and she _hated_ that…

"_Why did I forget to bring a change of clothes…?"_ she thought as she jumped up and grabbed onto a tree branch just above her.

Gabby clenched her teeth and struggled to pull herself up. After a few moments, she had successfully managed to climb onto the tree branch. She laughed to herself and carefully stood up. She wasn't used to climbing a tree like this…it was an entirely new experience for her. However, it wasn't much of a problem for her…she was a fast learner when it came to situations like these. Climbing trees was one thing she got the hang of quickly…and so was jumping and anything relatively athletic…

Except for swimming…it wasn't that she couldn't swim, but it was that she couldn't swim well. She always felt nervous and overwhelmed around deep bodies of water. She never ventured into the deep end on her own. It might've had something to do with her first initial meeting with Sora's dad…she fell off the Paopu tree and landed in the ocean. It was not a good experience for a four to five year old and she nearly drowned, had it not been for Sora's dad.

…

"_I could see why Sora didn't want me bringing up his parents…" _Gabby thought.

It was rather depressing, seeing as Hikari and Takeru weren't with them…and Gabby wasn't with anyone relatively familiar with her. She was _alone_…

_Growl…_

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gabby's face. "Great…almost forgot…"

She had yet to solve her hunger problem… She sighed and started to walk carefully on the tree branch.

"There has to be something growing around that is at least edible…" she said to herself. "Huh?"

Gabby blinked as she spotted what looked like yellow fruit, growing from the branches. They were close by and just about in her reach. She blinked a few more times and smiled.

"Score!" she exclaimed.

Gabby carefully walked over to the fruit and reached up, plucking one off the branch. She then sat herself down on the branch and began to look over the fruit. It looked…normal…save for the fact that she had no clue what kind of fruit it even was. It felt firm in her grasp…

She tapped her nail on the fruit's yellow skin, managing to puncture through it after a few taps. Another thing to add to her examination of the fruit was that it was juicy and it had pale white flesh inside…

"_Now…how does it taste?"_ she thought.

Tentatively, Gabby brought the fruit closer to her face and sniffed it. It smelled nice… Shrugging, Gabby sunk her teeth into the fruit and bit off a small chunk. She chewed slowly, trying to contemplate on the fruit's taste.

…

"_It's good…"_ she thought, swallowing.

No longer hesitant, Gabby began to eat the yellow fruit eagerly. She still had no clue that the two animals she had found earlier, were still watching her.

…

…

Sora blinked as he stared at the fruit Tarzan had brought him. Some of the fruit, he recognized, but most of it, he couldn't even tell what it was. All he knew was that it was at least edible, as Tarzan was already eating some of it.

Just a while ago, he and Tarzan had settled down on a tree branch. Sora had no idea how long he and Tarzan had been swinging on vines…all he knew was that it was quite fun.

_Growl…_

Sora's eye twitched as he picked up a fruit. His stomach was getting on his nerves…

"Sora…" said Tarzan.

Sora looked at Tarzan as he was just about ready to bite into a fruit. "Huh? What is it?"

Sora noticed something about Tarzan. Tarzan seemed…troubled… Sora didn't know why Tarzan would be troubled…in fact, thinking of it now…

"_I haven't seen any Heartless…"_ he thought, biting into his fruit. _"Everything seems so…peaceful."_

It was strange…especially after the whole Wonderland ordeal. The world was infested with Heartless…and Sora didn't have his Keyblade. However, he did learn Magic. Though, compared to what had happened in Wonderland to this world, now…It was a huge contrast.

"_I wonder if everyone is okay…"_ Sora thought as he chewed.

…

…

It was getting late…the sun was beginning to set and the sky was starting to darken. Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy were sitting around a small fire, courtesy of Donald. They were eating bananas that Goofy had picked off a tree. The three were contemplating on wherever their two missing teammates could be.

Donald sighed. "Nothing…"

Goofy was peeling another banana when he looked up at Donald. Donald seemed…sad. He had gone through a change in character since morning, now that his anger had calmed. Donald was actually worried about both Gabby _and Sora_…though, he wouldn't admit that about the latter.

The jungle was thick and deep as the trio had discovered during their search for Sora and Gabby. Jiminy, sitting on Goofy's shoulder, had been writing down in his journal, in remarkable detail, about the vegetation, wildlife, and sights they had seen. The waterfall was one amazing sight…and the flora and fauna was another. Though, one thing had Jiminy troubled.

"We haven't seen any Heartless around," he remarked.

Donald and Goofy looked at Jiminy. Now that he mentioned it…there hadn't been any Heartless around, just animals. It was a nice change of pace, actually, though under rather inappropriate circumstances. As mentioned before, two of their teammates had been missing and they had no clue where the two were.

"D'ya think they're okay?" asked Goofy.

Donald looked at Goofy and smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure they are…they made it through Wonderland."

Goofy blinked and nodded. "That's right! And, uh…they did it without their Keyblades!"

Jiminy nodded. "Yes, and they now know Magic…saves you the trouble of teaching them, doesn't it, Donald?"

Donald nodded firmly. "Uh-huh…now I won't have to put up with any screwy nonsense!"

"We kinda did in Wonderland…" Goofy remarked.

"Oh, yeah…I knew that," Donald said, rubbing the back of his head.

Jiminy looked at his journal and flipped through it. "What do you suppose we do now?"

Goofy looked up at the sky. "It's getting rather dark…"

Donald looked at Goofy and Jiminy. He sighed and shook his head. "I suppose we settle down for the night…but remember! Tomorrow morning, we go back to looking for them!"

Goofy and Jiminy nodded in agreement.

…

…

Sora stared up at the sky in awe as he lied back on a bed of leaves he had made. Tarzan was next to him, his gaze also focused on the sky. It was nighttime, the sky was dark and filled with many twinkling stars. It was a breathtaking view…

"_I wish Gabby was here—"_ Sora stopped in mid-thought as he frowned. _"That's right…she's lost, too. Just like Riku and Kairi…Seymour and Cassie…"_

Sora felt tears prick his eyes as his thoughts focused on the two people he really missed the most.

"_Mom and Dad…" _he thought.

How long had it been since he thought of them? Both, he meant? It wasn't actually that long…though, now that he had the chance to think to himself… He realized something.

"I never said…goodbye," he said.

Tarzan blinked and turned his head to Sora. "Good…bye?"

Sora turned to Tarzan and sighed. "You say goodbye when you're leaving somebody…usually, for a long time. It has a much deeper meaning than just 'bye'…"

Tarzan stayed silent as he listened to Sora intently.

Sora diverted his gaze back up at the sky. "I never meant to leave them…I didn't know this was going to happen. All I was going to do…was check on the raft and bring Gabby back…"

"Gabby, friend?" said Tarzan.

Sora let out a shaking sigh. "Yes…Gabby friend… Though, there are times I wonder why she is…friend. Still, I don't hate her…"

…

"Sora, friend?" said Tarzan.

Sora blinked and looked at Tarzan. He stared at the older male and smiled weakly. "Yeah, I guess we are friends…"

"Friends…here," said Tarzan.

Sora nodded. "That's right…they have to be."

What Sora didn't notice was that Tarzan had his hand on his chest when he told spoke. Sora continued to stare at the sky, his eyes beginning to open and close as they grew heavy. In a matter of minutes, Sora had fallen asleep. He had had an exhausting day…and that was bordering on the line of an understatement.

Tarzan continued to stare at the starry sky, his thoughts focusing on Sora. What was he going to do with Sora? He couldn't leave the boy alone…and he didn't seem to mean any harm. Sora just looked lost. Though, if he brought him along…Tarzan could already think of the conflicts that would stir up if he did.

"Friends…" Sora muttered in his sleep.

Tarzan diverted his attention to Sora. He knew that whatever made Sora sad had to do with his friends… He had to do something…for Sora, he could make an exception. Besides, there was something about Sora that intrigued Tarzan to no end. It was how similar he and the boy were.

Sora had two eyes…two ears…a nose…just like Tarzan. Tarzan looked at his hands and then at Sora.

"_Two hands…"_ thought Tarzan. (9)

…

…

Gabby bit her lip as she curled up in a fetal position on top of a nest of leaves she had found on the ground. There were many other nests made of leaves surrounding the area she had found. Others were here before her…but what? Most likely, they were the inhabitants of this jungle.

She was no longer being followed by the elephant and the gorilla, but she didn't know that. She wasn't even aware that she had been being watched.

Gabby sighed as she tried to ignore how unfamiliar her surroundings were…and how she was alone. There was no light…not even from the moon. The moon was nearly invisible, save for the small sliver of silvery-white in the form of a crescent that was in the sky. That was a sign that the moon was nearing the end of its waning crescent phase. In a few days, there would be a new moon…and the sky would be completely dark, save for the stars…

"_I'm…scared…"_ thought Gabby.

Gabby had never felt so alone since that night on the island…it was much harder to cope with her current situation, given that she was in an unfamiliar world. Everything was completely new to her… This was almost like the day she had first woken up on Destiny Islands.

Nothing was familiar…everything scared her…and her memory was nearly blank. All she could remember was her name, the fact that she had a twin sister named, "Kairi", and the memory of the animals she kept insisting exist: Chocobos.

At least she had more memories since then… Though, she had been separated from her friends…

"Guys…where are you?" she asked forlornly. "I just…I just want to go home…"

The question was, now…where was home? Was it still Destiny Islands? Or was it elsewhere in a world she had yet to discover? She didn't know anymore. She felt so conflicted…maybe she could figure it out once she found Sora and the rest of their friends.

"_Maybe…"_ she thought. _"I shouldn't worry, much…they're strong. They'll be okay…"_

Gabby couldn't help but smile at that reassuring thought. She should be stronger…

"_Yeah…I should,"_ she thought. _"I'll find them…one way or another…"_

Yawning, Gabby closed her eyes and fell asleep.

…

…

…

Bright sunlight penetrated Sora's eyes that it immediately roused him from his sleep. Slowly, Sora opened his eyes, groaning slightly as his head began to throb. Once the pain subsided and his vision grew accustomed to the bright sunlight, Sora looked around and frowned. Tarzan was gone…

Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head, wincing when he came upon the tender spot on his head. A large bump had formed on the back of his head already from yesterday's landing. Sora stopped rubbing the back of his head as he looked at himself. His clothes were mussed up and had small tears, but nothing big.

"Okay…what now?" Sora asked himself as he looked around.

Tarzan left him and Sora wasn't sure when he would be back. Sora still needed to locate his friends…

_Growl…_

Sora let out an exasperated sigh. His stomach was also bugging him again.

"_How much do I have to eat before you are satisfied?"_ Sora thought as he looked at his stomach.

Now that he thought about it, Sora had been much more active than he usually was…and it was morning. It made sense that Sora would be hungry… (10)

"_I need to eat more…" _he thought.

Otherwise, he'd have to put up with his growling stomach like yesterday. Sora shook his head and got off the ground. He did a few stretches first, wincing when he heard his bones pop, to warm up a bit. He wasn't going anywhere until he limbered up…otherwise he'd have to deal with a rather inconvenient injury or sprain along the way.

…

Sora sighed as he looked around. The jungle didn't seem as intimidating as it was yesterday…especially after Tarzan pushed him into some risky situations. Though, he did enjoy the outcomes…it was rather fun!

"Hmm…that reminds me…" Sora thought as he spotted some vines hanging above his head.

A few moments later,

Sora swung from vine to vine, not knowing where he was going. He didn't care…he was just doing this for the thrill. Though, after a few moments of this, Sora's growling stomach got the better of him, so he stopped. He narrowed his eyes as he hung onto the vine…he was getting annoyed with his stomach.

_Growl…_

"Shut up already!" Sora yelled as he looked at his stomach.

"_**Talking to yourself is just a sign that you're losing your sanity…"**_ said Blondie.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "So is talking to a voice inside my head."

"_**Ah, touché,"**_ said Blondie. (11)

"Why are you talking to me?" Sora asked.

"_**Nothing really…"**_ replied Blondie. _**"Just bored since Lady hasn't been talkative…"**_

Sora nodded his head. "I see…"

_Growl…_

"_**You should really find something to eat…" **_suggested Blondie.

Sora resisted the urge to face palm. "That's what I'm trying to do."

"_**Good luck, then…"**_ said Blondie.

Sora sighed and shook his head. He climbed down the vine all the way down onto the ground. He then began to look for food because his stomach wouldn't shut up until he did.

…

…

Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy continued their search through the jungle. It was getting rather difficult since there were times it seemed that they were going around in circles…only for them to realize that they _were_ going around in circles.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Donald exclaimed angrily.

Goofy just rubbed the back of his head and Jiminy just kept writing things down in his journal. He was actually working on his sketches of Sora and Gabby in their Wonderland form. He was almost done…all he had to do was add Sora's rabbit ears…

…

…

Sora was about to pluck a banana from a banana bunch hanging from a tree when, suddenly, he sneezed.

"_That…was out of nowhere…"_ Sora thought as he rubbed his nose. _"Huh…either I'm getting sick or I'm being talked about…or something…"_

Shrugging, Sora grabbed himself a banana and peeled it. Finally, he'll get his stomach to stop growling.

…

…

Gabby stared at the sky for a good ten minutes. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't know where to start. She sat up and rubbed her temples.

"This is gonna take a while…" she sighed.

"_What happened to you?" _asked Lady.

Gabby blinked and looked at herself. "Uh…I got ejected from the Gummi Ship because two of my teammates had a fight. I fell from Shiva knows how many feet from the air and crashed through a lot of branches…I think an elephant broke my fall. I dunno, everything's a bit of a blur after the whole 'crashing' and all…"

"_The loud-mouthed duck and Blondie's kid caused all this?" _asked Lady.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah…wait, who's Blondie?" (12)

"_Uh…I mean, Sora,"_ said Lady.

Gabby blinked. "Oh…never mind, then…"

_Growl…_

"Oh, I'll talk to you later," Gabby said, rubbing her stomach. "I need to eat, first."

"_No problem…" _said Lady. _"Take care."_

Gabby sighed and rubbed the back of her head. Here was to another day to being alone…

…

…

A female, brown-furred gorilla sat on a thick, curved tree trunk, plucking yellow fruit from nearby branches. She continued on, calmly, not noticing the young man hiding behind the leaves of various plants. The young man, Tarzan, waited a few seconds before stealthily making his way towards the female gorilla.

The gorilla was still unaware of Tarzan as she ate some yellow fruit. Once Tarzan had gotten behind the gorilla, he stood up straight and quietly inhaled deeply, his chest puffed out. He was about ready to make a noise when, suddenly, the gorilla spoke.

"Don't even think about it," she said.

Tarzan, currently holding his breath, blew a raspberry. He was not expecting that… The gorilla had caught him off guard. Amused, Tarzan grabbed a hold of a nearby vine and used it to get around the gorilla so that he was now in front of her.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked, grinning as he used his foot to grab himself a yellow fruit.

"I'm your mother, I know everything," the gorilla replied as Tarzan took a huge bite out of his yellow fruit. "Now, where have you been?"

Grinning, Tarzan answered, his mouth somewhat full of fruit. "I thought you knew everything."

Suddenly, out of the bushes, a black-furred gorilla tackled Tarzan onto the ground. Tarzan swallowed and dropped the fruit he had in his hands as he tried to fight back the gorilla who tackled them. He threw the gorilla onto its back, but soon found himself being thrown by it in retaliation. The gorilla quickly got onto its feet and turned to face the brown-furred gorilla.

It was Terk. She smiled and waved at the brown-furred gorilla as she greeted her with a, "Hey, Auntie K. You're looking remarkably groomed today."

A/N Okay, I'm gonna referred to Tarzan's mother by her name because…gah! DX I can't take it anymore! I don't want to have to wait for a character to say her name! Yah…

"Hello, Terk," replied Kala.

Kala went back to eating her fruit as Tarzan and Terk started wrestling with each other. Tarzan and Terk's wrestling led them tumbling across the ground, passing a black-furred male gorilla, with a silver patch of fur on his back, as they continued on with their wrestling.

"Not the neck, not the next," Terk said repetitively.

The silverback stared at the two, his expression one of displeasure as he shook his head.

…

A gorilla was eating a banana in one hand and held a banana bunch in the other. The gorilla spotted Tarzan and Terk moving closer and lifted the banana bunch out of the way as Tarzan and Terk passed by.

Tarzan grinned as he crawled away from Terk, managing to throw her onto her back when she tried to tackle him. A female gorilla lifted her child out of the way as Terk landed on the ground.

Tarzan proceeded to tackle Terk, only for her to use her feet to throw him back. The two continued their wrestling, unintentionally bumping into an elephant as they tumbled back. The elephant, Tantor, immediately got up and carefully tried to avoid Tarzan and Terk as they wrestled.

"Okay, it's all fun in games until someone loses an eye," he said.

Tarzan and Terk didn't seem to hear Tantor as they continued wrestling.

"Someone's gonna get hurt here, and it's always me," Tantor said.

Terk and Tarzan rolled away from Tantor. Terk's eyes widened as she felt a pain in her leg.

"Cramp in the calf!" she said, jumping away from Tarzan.

Tarzan jumped onto Terk's back and used a submission hold on her. It was rather painful and it didn't take long for Terk to admit defeat.

"Okay okay, you win," she said.

Tarzan would have released Terk by now, but something caught his attention. He could hear something…it was coming closer and closer. His gaze focused on the jungle foliage ahead of them.

"Okay okay, you win, hello, down here, yo, yo!" Terk said frantically, waving her hands about as she tried to catch Tarzan's attention. "Let go!"

Tarzan looked at Terk and it took him a few seconds to realize what was going on before he released her.

"Oh, sorry, Terk…" he said.

Terk coughed a few times and rubbed her neck as she glared at Tarzan as Tantor walked up. "What kind of animal are you?"

Tarzan made his way past Tantor and Terk as the two began talking to each other.

"You know I've been thinking lately that maybe Tarzan could be some subspecies of elephant," said Tantor.

Tarzan looked intently at the jungle foliage ahead. As he continued to stare ahead, Tantor and Terk continued their discussion.

Terk scoffed. "What are you, crazy? An elephant?"

"Listen to me, think about it, he enjoys a peanut, I enjoy a peanut," reasoned Tantor.

Terk shook her head as she face palmed. "He looks nothin' like ya!"

Tarzan turned away and decided that there was nothing ahead. Just as he did this, suddenly, a loud scream filled the air, "AAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!"

Tarzan immediately turned, his eyes widening as he recognized that voice. From out of the foliage ahead, popped out—

"Sora!" exclaimed Tarzan.

Sora exclaimed as he tripped and fell flat onto the ground. Luckily, for him, this managed to have saved his life as the leopard that leapt out at him…just missed him. The leopard noted this and turned around, letting out a loud roar. Sora stared wide-eyed at the leopard as he tried to recall how this all happened.

* * *

~flashback~

_Sora sat around, eating bananas contently, not noticing the animal that had been staring at him from within the bushes. The animal's eyes stalked him, following every movement he made._

"I wonder where Tarzan is…"_ Sora thought._

_He sighed and threw a banana peel over his shoulder, adding more to the ever-growing pile of banana peels. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Sora found himself jumped by a ferocious female leopard. (13)_

"_AAGH!" he screamed._

_Sora's eyes widened as he found himself pinned underneath a leopard._

"Oh, god, why?"_ he thought. "Get off!"_

_Sora used his legs to kick the leopard off. It was extremely difficult, but he had managed to catch the leopard off guard, so he might as well consider himself lucky. Immediately, Sora got off the ground and began running away from the leopard in a random direction._

_Sora had a few close calls in his life, but never one this much adrenaline pumping. It was like that time he almost got killed by that Tonberry—pfft, no, not even close! Still, it was around the line of that and it had Sora scared out of his wits. He just took on a fricken' leopard head-on…with no weapons, to boot! Hell! He was too scared to even stop and take out the Keyblade!_

_It was a fight or flight situation…Sora chose flight. And that was how he ended up here…_

~end of flashback~

* * *

"_I can't believe I outran a leopard…" _Sora thought as he stared at the leopard. (14)

The leopard's sudden appearance caused a set of chain reactions. Tantor let out a loud trumpet call in distress and Terk screamed in fear. This earned the attention of every gorilla and any sense of tranquility was replaced with fear and panic as the gorillas scrambled to the trees. Tantor just hid behind some trees and used his ears to cover his eyes.

Sora whimpered as the leopard stared him right in the eye.

"_**Stop running!"**_ snapped Blondie._** "Fight back or we both die!"**_

"Wha?" said Sora. "Wagh!"

Sora found himself being pulled by the belt. He turned, his eyes widening as he saw it was Tarzan. Tarzan dragged him along by the belt, dashing straight towards a tree. The leopard hissed and ran after them as Tarzan climbed up the tree.

Sora screamed and braced himself as the leopard tried to slash him…only for her to get pulled back by a silverback. This gave Tarzan enough time to get himself and Sora onto a higher tree branch. Tarzan propped Sora onto the tree branch before scampering off to grab something he decide was reasonable to carry around in a situation like this. Sora watched Tarzan run off before diverting his gaze to the fight that broke out below between the leopard and the silverback.

The silverback bared his teeth as he threw the leopard across the jungle. The leopard landed on her paws and quickly ran towards the silverback. She leapt into the air and tackled the silverback. The silverback recovered quickly and shoved the leopard off of himself. He roared as he pounded his fists on the leopard. The leopard retaliated by swiping her claws across the silverback's chest.

Sora looked at the fight and noticed that the tables were turning. The leopard had the upper hand now that she had managed to get on the silverback's back. The silverback struggled to get the leopard off and when he did, he ended up falling forward onto the ground. The silverback panted as he watched the leopard closely. The leopard circled him slowly, contemplating on when to strike.

Sora looked around for Tarzan. There was still no sign of him… Biting his lip, Sora did the most reckless, stupidest thing he had ever done…

"Hey furball!" he yelled as he slid down the tree. "We have a score to settle!"

Everyone's attention turned to Sora. Sora gulped as the leopard looked at him. He scowled at the animal and decided to do the next stupidest thing…taunt the leopard.

"This is between you and me, fleabag!" snapped Sora.

The leopard hissed at Sora and turned her attention away from the silverback. The silverback continued to pant, his gaze focused on the leopard and the boy. The boy had surprised him…he didn't expect another creature like Tarzan to be in the forest.

Sora clenched his teeth as the leopard crept slowly towards him.

"_**What the hell are you doing?"**_ yelled Blondie.

Sora blinked, his expression turning serious as he held out his right arm. "Fighting back…"

FLASH!

Sora gripped his Keyblade's hilt after it appeared into his right hand. It had been a while since he last used it…but he didn't forget how to use it. In fact, he was ready for a fight.

"_Okay, Sora…just think of it as a Heartless…"_ he thought as he held his Keyblade with both hands. _"It can think…just like the Trickmaster and that nightmare inducing…_thing_ that destroyed the islands…"_

Gathering his courage, Sora yelled as he ran towards the leopard. Accepting the challenge, the leopard charged towards him. At the very last moment, Sora jumped over the leopard and spun in mid-air. He swung the Keyblade as hard as he could and landed a hard blow on the back of the leopard's neck. The leopard collapsed in a heap on the ground, her body still.

Sora spun around after landing on his feet and looked at the leopard's body. Every muscle in his body relaxed as soon as he saw the animal lying still. His heart pulse started to calm as he breathed in deeply and exhaled.

Sora looked at the silverback, earning a rather wary look from it. Sighing, Sora looked up at the trees, searching for any sign of Tarzan. Right next to Terk, there stood Tarzan, a crudely made spear in his hand.

"_So that's what he went for…"_ thought Sora.

Tarzan had been caught off guard by Sora's actions. That weapon of his…it came out of nowhere, literally. The boy…he was stronger than he seemed.

…

Sora diverted his gaze back on the leopard. It had been quiet for sometime…and it hadn't moved, either. Biting his lip, Sora inched closer towards the leopard's body, moving sideways. He was hesitant…his eyes widened when he saw the leopard's body move slightly. Before he could even react, the leopard sprung back on all fours and swung a powerful paw at Sora.

Sora yelled as he was sent flying into a tree. He yelped when his back hit the tree, wincing when the back of his head met with the tree trunk. As if his head hadn't had enough injuries…

"_I'm surprised I haven't experienced any brain damage,"_ Sora thought as he rubbed the back of his head.

Sora's eyes widened as he realized the leopard had him cornered. The leopard roared and dashed towards Sora. He raised the Keyblade in front of him, prepared to use it block the leopard's attack.

"_Here's to surviving…"_ he thought. (15)

Suddenly, a loud yell caught Sora's attention. Tarzan swung on a vine towards the leopard, kicking her out of the way. Sora blinked as Tarzan stood in front of him, protecting him. The leopard picked herself off the ground and looked at Sora and Tarzan. Tarzan held his spear pointed at the leopard. Hissing, the leopard decided she had enough and jumped into the bushes.

Sora inhaled and exhaled deeply, his heart pounding from the whole ordeal. Tarzan turned to him and thought for a bit before speaking.

"Sabor, danger," he said gruffly.

Sora arched his brow. Tarzan seemed to have picked up some more English along the way. He was definitely a fast learner…

"Thank you…" said Sora.

Tarzan looked questioningly at Sora. "Thank…you?"

Sora chuckled. "It's hard to explain the meaning well…you just say it when you really appreciate something someone did for you."

Tarzan tilted his head to the side and diverted his gaze on the silverback across from them. "Thank you…"

Sora blinked. Was Tarzan repeating what he had just said or was he really thanking him? Sora looked at the silverback and nodded. Tarzan had been thanking him…for saving the silverback.

"No problem," Sora said, smiling.

Tarzan nodded and walked over to the silverback. The silverback just stared at Tarzan.

…

…

"Kerchak," Tarzan called out.

Kerchak, the silverback, looked at Tarzan and then at Sora. "You have to take him back…"

Tarzan frowned, his eyes growing wide. "I can't…he has nowhere to go back to."

"I will not allow you to put our family in danger," Kerchak said sternly. "He led Sabor to us."

Tarzan took a step forward. "He didn't mean it! Kerchak, please…"

Kala turned her attention to Kerchak, having seen and heard everything. "Kerchak…"

"Don't try to defend him, Kala!" he roared, turning his attention on Kala.

"Just _listen_ to him, Kerchak," she said gently, shrinking back slightly.

Her expression was grave, her eyes glimmering in sympathy for her son, Tarzan. Kerchak stared at Kala for a full minute before he let out an exasperated sigh. He turned his gaze to Tarzan.

"He's lost…" Tarzan explained. "He has nowhere to go…please, let him join us…just until he finds what he is looking for. Please…"

Kerchak turned his attention to Sora, who was currently getting mobbed by three baby gorillas. Sora just knelt down and let the baby gorillas have their fun. One of the gorillas was searching through his hair while another tugged at his belt and another hung from his arm. Sora showed no ill intentions…

Kerchak turned to Tarzan and sighed as he reluctantly said, "He can stay…so long as he leaves when he finds what he is looking for."

Tarzan smiled. "Thank you, Kerchak."

Tarzan left Kerchak's side as he dashed over to Sora's side. He called out to the baby gorillas and, immediately, the gorillas left Sora as they scampered to Tarzan. Sora sighed and adjusted his clothes a bit. It didn't do much good as, after his ordeal with Sabor, his clothes were somewhat tattered.

"Sora, stay…" said Tarzan.

Sora blinked and turned to Tarzan. "Hmm…? Stay?"

Tarzan nodded. "Look…friends."

Sora smiled. "I see…thank you."

"_**Did you just get adopted by a gorilla-man?"**_ asked Blondie.

"_Shut up, I'm trying to make friends,"_ thought Sora.

"_**Oh, sorry…"**_ Blondie said sheepishly.

Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I wonder how long…it'll take for me to find my friends…"

Sora had no clue, but he felt safe now… Tarzan, he was definitely different…he lived with a family of gorillas and could even speak to them…

"_**Maybe he was raised by gorillas…?"**_ Blondie suggested.

"_That sounds plausible,"_ thought Sora. _"It explains a lot, actually."_

Sora didn't mind, though. He was just glad somebody was helping him out.

…

…

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 12-21-11

Ah, so it comes to this chapter…the one about the world that got screwed over by copyright. As you can see, originality is coming into play. For one thing, Tantor's here and for another…we got gorillas talking to each other…yeah, give me some time to figure out how to put this into a much easier way to differentiate them. I'll either keep it where it's at right now, or just do what I do in Pokémon…have them speak using italics and put their thoughts in bold. Eh, I'll do it later, It's past 2 AM and I'm tired…

Oh, and I gots a question for you guys, the readers…what would you think to seeing Sora go through a montage of some sort involving Tarzan teaching him the ways of the jungle…all through the accompaniment of "Son of Man"…I'm a Disney geek, shut up! DX I LOVE this movie to bits…I actually like it better than the book…by the way, I read the book by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Still think the movie is better…anyways, let me move onto the notes…oh, a shout out to **Black Mage Jr-KHwarrior**, **Hestic**, **Lvl-ZeR0**, **mwaetht**, **SynctrainerLucas**, and **Dracula X**. Thank you guys so much for reviewing! :D

(1) Yeah, that part…came out of nowhere. I mean, it just seemed so possible since the whole ship is Disney-esque. I was almost gonna take it out, but then…

(2) …this idea came up. Turns out, my random thought was actually relevant to the whole ordeal. XD Yeah…

(3) Hey, how else would Jiminy be able to write under water in Atlantica?

(4) Ahem, here's to a potion-dry environment…why? Think everyone…this is the world where Cure is obtained from. To show the importance of this spell…this has to happen. Yeah, it actually makes this jungle much more deadly.

(5) Tarzan reference…ya know, with how Jane was…yeah. I'm keeping it! DX  
(6) Anyone who has been with this story back with it was just Blossoming Adventures should know that Gabby had the worst experience in Deep Jungle. It may not seem much right now, but she did just survive a fall that should have killed her (luckily, the branches kinda sorta gave her some more time and delayed impact…I'm taking physics, it's called momentum…I think? It has to…it involves time and velocity….uh…whatever! DX). It's gonna get worse for her from here on out. XD

(7) That was a bit of an excuse to get Sora barefooted for reasons that I find reasonable…and that is sliding on trees. I mean, wouldn't shoes sort of slow you down? I dunno…

(8) Hey, it was inevitable, though, in Deep Jungle, this actually seems like a plausible place to put clothing damage into play.

(9) Yet another Tarzan reference…yeah, I know I screwed it up with how Tarzan finds Sora…but we still got Jane and there are things that separate Jane from Sora. One…she is female…two—that's all I got. Don't worry, I'll make it work! DX

(10) Uh, ahem…I'm kinda using real life stuff and such. You need a bigger intake of calories and carbohydrates (and such) if you are more physically active. Look at Sora…have you seen what the boy's been through? He needs to eat a lot to provide his body the sufficient energy it needs. This means I just made Sora a big eater, though with reason.

(11) Had to happen…had to happen. XD

(12) Yeah, Gabby has no clue about Blondie…only Lady. Sora's the only one aware of both of them. Just thought I'd let you know…

(13) KH kinda screwed over Sabor's gender…she is actually female, not male. And in the book, she is a lioness, not a leopard, but still, female.

(14) Leopards can run over 58 kilometers per hour (36 mph), which means Sora pulled off a rather impressive feat…then again, DIA broke him into a warrior. XP  
(15) This is Deep Jungle…there's gonna be a LOT of surviving, here!

Okay, with this done…well, you know the drill! NO FLAMES! :C Constructive criticism is always welcomed, and reviews are just lovely! Unless they are flames, than…:C

Seeing as I love this movie to bits…this world might get lengthy like Wonderland, however, the bright side is…it's not Wonderland! :D Anyways, till next time! It's like 3 AM now! KD out! XD


	12. Son of Man

Two days later,

Sora grunted as he struggled to climb a tree. So far, living with the gorillas has been rather…difficult. For one thing, he had to avoid crossing Kerchak's path, and for another…

He couldn't win in a wrestling match between him and a gorilla, or Terk, as Tarzan called her. Though, that was a bit more personal than anything else. Another aspect of the difficult life Sora had at the moment was his understanding of Tarzan's language…and teaching Tarzan about the meanings of words in English. And then there was the food…

* * *

~flashback~

"I am _not_ eating this…"_ Sora thought as he looked at a termite he picked out from a mound using a stick._

~end of flashback~

* * *

_Oh, the power to be strong_

Sora clenched his teeth as he slid down a little the tree, much to his annoyance. He looked up and saw that the rest of the gorillas were ahead of him. Biting his lip, Sora tried climbing up the tree again, only for him to lose his grip. His eyes widened as he struggled to maintain his grip again, though his efforts were in vain.

_And the wisdom to be wise_

Though, just as he was about to fall down onto the ground, Tarzan caught Sora by the wrist. Sora blinked as he stared at Tarzan, whom smiled at him reassuringly. Tarzan saw a bit of himself in Sora. He could see that the boy had potential…Sora just needed to be taught how to use it at its fullest point. There was a lot Sora had to learn…

_All these things will_

_Come to you in time_

…

…

_On this journey that you're making_

_There'll be answers that you'll seek_

Sora watched Tarzan as he came out victorious in a wrestling match between him and Terk. Tarzan just smiled as he walked up to Sora. Sora blinked as Tarzan directed him at Terk. The spiky-haired boy looked perplexed at Tarzan and realized that the older male wanted him to wrestle Terk. Sora shook his head and backed away…only for Tarzan to grab him by the wrist and throw him towards Terk.

_And it's you who'll climb the mountain_

Seeing as there was no way out of this for him, Sora sighed and caved in as he started to wrestle Terk. He knew what the outcome was going to be, but that didn't stop him from trying! Of course, the results were the same…Terk won.

_It's you who'll reach the peak_

Sora narrowed his eyes as Terk sat on his back.

…

…

_Son of Man, look to the sky_

_Lift your spirit, set it free_

Sora swung from vine to vine, following Tarzan as the two rapidly made their way through the forest. Sora had to swing from vine to branch and branch to vine a few times, but managed to get the hang of it.

_Some day you'll walk tall with pride_

_Son of Man, a man in time you'll be_

Sora smiled as he almost caught up to Tarzan…only for him to suddenly lag behind as he grabbed a snake instead of a vine by accident. Sora yelled as he slid down and fell into muddy waters that were full of crocodiles. He stared wide-eyed at the crocodiles as they took note of him and started nearing him.

_Though there's no one there to guide you_

_No one to take your hand _(1)

Tarzan looked down at Sora and sighed as he made his way towards the boy.

_But with faith and understanding_

Sora clenched his teeth as he barely dodged a crocodile that wanted to chomp down on him. He avoided another crocodile and jumped onto its back, causing the rest of the crocodiles to pile up on the crocodile as they tried to get Sora. Sora avoided each crocodile, long enough for Tarzan to pull him out of the mess by the back of his belt and take him somewhere else…obviously, away from the crocodiles.

_You will journey from boy to man_

Sora looked up at Tarzan as the young man swung from vine to vine with one hand, still holding onto Sora. Tarzan looked down at Sora, earning a smile from him. Tarzan smiled back and threw Sora towards a vine. Sora grabbed a hold of the vine without struggle this time. Tarzan and Sora looked at each other before they started swinging from vine to vine.

_Son of Man, look to the sky_

_Lift your spirit, set it free_

Sora smiled as he picked up the pace and actually managed to pass Tarzan. Tarzan diverted his gaze on Sora. It had only been five days since Sora started living with the gorillas and six days since Tarzan first found him. Sora had shown remarkable growth, just like Tarzan expected him to.

_Some day you'll walk tall with pride_

_Son of Man, a man in time you'll be_

…

…

Sora pushed away a few branches and looked around. He sighed, finding no sign of any of his friends. It had been a week since he first arrived to this world, separated from his friends. Seven days since it happened, seven days since he first met Tarzan, and six days since he first started living with the gorillas.

_In learning you will teach_

_And in teaching you will learn_

Tarzan had taught Sora a lot of things…and in return, Sora taught Tarzan some things as well. Sora had found himself starting to understand Tarzan…and the stunning thing was that Tarzan hadn't been speaking to Sora in broken English…

_You'll find your place beside the_

_Ones you love_

The gorillas had already come to respect Sora, though Kerchak still kept his distance. It was to be expected. Kerchak didn't take to well to strangers…

…

Sora clenched his teeth as he followed after Tarzan, his eyes wide with fear as a gigantic green snake trailed after them. Sora had no clue what Tarzan had been thinking or what he had been doing. All he knew was that he had to follow after Tarzan or end up as snake food.

_Oh, and all the things you dreamed of_

_The visions that you saw_

Sora had just been looking for his friends with Tarzan! How the hell did they get into this? Sora didn't even know anymore. He just kept following after Tarzan.

…

Sora stared wide-eyed at the green snake as he hid behind Tarzan. Tarzan just looked at the snake, smirking as the snake tried to lunge at them. The snake tried to chomp on them, but found itself entangled around two trees, branches, and a tree root. It wasn't getting anywhere near closer to Sora and Tarzan in its current state.

…

Sora felt his heart pounding within his chest as he climbed up the one thing he had never expected to climb up: a waterfall. Tarzan waited for Sora at the top, encouraging him to keep it up.

_Well, the time is drawing near now_

_It's yours to claim in all_

"_This would be so cool if it wasn't me doing it…"_ Sora thought as he grabbed onto another rock jutting out from the waterfall.

It was like climbing up a rock wall, only…it was a waterfall and it was extremely tall. Sora made a mental note not to look down.

…

Kerchak was leading the gorillas elsewhere when he saw two shadows pass over him. He looked up, his eyes narrowing.

_Son of Man, look to the sky_

_Lift your spirit, set it free_

Tarzan was swinging on the vines that were above the silverback and the gorillas. Following after him, was Sora. Tarzan had managed to make Sora his protégé of some sort, though Sora didn't seem to mind.

_Some day you'll walk tall with pride_

_Son of Man, a man in time you'll be_

The two jumped off the vines and landed firmly on moss-covered branches. Sora felt his heart pound with excitement as he and Tarzan started sliding down the moss-covered branches. Everything he and Tarzan had done together…Sora now felt like himself. Since the Destiny Islands takeover, Sora hadn't been himself much…but now, it was different.

_Son of Man,_

_Son of Man's a man for all to see_

Tarzan waited for Sora on top of a moss-covered branch. He watched as Sora made his way towards him. Sora jumped off a branch and grabbed a hold of a nearby vine. Sora was just about to swing towards Tarzan when, suddenly, the vine snapped. Sora's eyes widened as he found himself hurtling downwards. (2)

"Aaagh!" he screamed.

Tarzan blinked and looked down, wincing when Sora landed on the ground. Luckily for Sora, the ground was muddy, so the landing wasn't painful, just…dirty. Sora opened his eyes slowly, his gaze focused on Tarzan. Tarzan was now by Sora's side, looking over the boy.

"It's okay," Sora reassured. "I'm all right…"

Sora sat up and shook his head, sticking his tongue out in displeasure afterwards as he looked at himself. He definitely needed a bath…but since this was the jungle, he had to use an alternate and that was…the waterfall. Sora sighed and stood up, wiping off some mud on his face.

…

* * *

…

Gabby frowned as she looked down from the branch she stood upon. It had been over eight days already and she still hadn't found any of her friends. She sighed as she pulled herself up onto another branch just above her.

"Huh…?" she said.

"_I hear something…"_ said Lady.

Gabby blinked. "Oh…hey Lady…where've you been?"

"_I dunno…I kinda blanked out," _replied Lady. _"Any luck?"_

Gabby frowned. "No…"

"_Aww…don't be sad,"_ said Lady. _"Cheer up!"_

"Okay…" said Gabby. "So…what did you hear?"

"_It sounds like…a waterfall,"_ replied Lady.

Gabby blinked. "A waterfall…?"

…

* * *

…

Donald panted heavily as he walked out of the bushes. Goofy followed after him, looking around as he did. Jiminy frowned as he jotted a few more notes down in his journal. They were at a loss…it had been eight days and there were still no signs of Sora or Gabby. To make matters worse, they didn't even know where they were.

"I wonder if they're okay…" Goofy wondered out loud, frowning afterwards.

Donald looked at Goofy and frowned. This time…he couldn't say anything.

…

* * *

…

Gabby looked down, her gaze captivated by the view below her. Water cascaded from edge of a cliff and plunged down from a high height into a pool of water. Elephants stood about in the water, either bathing or just communicating with other elephants. Water poured off the edge of the pool and plunged down, creating a large waterfall.

From where she sat, which was in a tree, on top of a branch, it was a breathtaking sight.

"Wow…" she breathed.

"_Uh…I don't think you should be doing that while you're up here…"_ Lady said.

Gabby blinked and laughed. "It's not like I'm gonna fall down."

"_No, but still, you should be careful,"_ said Lady. _"You're on your own, remember…?"_

Gabby narrowed her eyes. "Fine…"

…

Gabby muttered to herself as she started climbing down the tree. Carefully, she lowered herself down, gripping the branch for support as she stepped onto a branch just below her. Though, the second she stepped off, something went wrong as Gabby felt an excruciating pain in her right foot. (3)

"Aagh, bitch!" she exclaimed.

"_What did you just call—oh, you said that out of pain…"_ Lady remarked.

"No shit…Sherlock…" Gabby strained through her teeth. "Gah…oww…"

Gabby grimaced as she found herself unable to move. It hurt to just even stand as her foot throbbed under her weight. This…this was not good…

"Crap…I think I sprained my ankle…" she said, her eyes widening as she found herself swaying to the side. "Lady…I think…I think I jinxed myself—!"

"_Huh, what do you—shit," _said Lady.

Gabby struggled to keep her balance, only for her efforts to be in vain. Her breath hitched as she lost her footing. Gabby tried to reassure herself that falling wasn't something foreign to her. Still, that didn't stop her from screaming as she plunged downwards.

…

Sora's head popped out of the water as he inhaled. He had been holding his breath underwater for at least five minutes. The underwater endurance training he went through at Destiny Islands Academy gave him the ability around to hold his breath for at least five minutes… That's about one period of a Blitzball game…games are separated into two five-minute periods. (4)

Sora had almost gotten rid of most of the mud that had been on him. He still had some in his hair and he was about to submerge himself into the water again when, suddenly, he heard a loud scream. His eyes widened as he recognized whose scream it was.

"Gabby!" he exclaimed.

Immediately, Sora looked around for any sign of the girl. She had to be around…she sounded so close—

SPLASH!

Sora blinked as he had just watched Gabby plunge into the water. Water sprayed in every direction and ripples were sent outward. Sora stared at the spot Gabby had landed in for a few seconds, letting out a sigh in relief when he saw her head pop out of the water. Sora blinked as he realized he had been holding his breath.

Sighing again, Sora made his way towards Gabby, stopping when he noticed something. Gabby seemed to have more difficulty swimming…more than usual. Sora knew that Gabby didn't swim very well, but this…this just made it even more obvious. It took Sora full minute to realize that Gabby wasn't having difficulty swimming…she was struggling to stay _afloat_. Suddenly, she sunk into the water.

"Oh, shit!" Sora swore. "Gabby!"

Sora immediately started swimming towards Gabby.

…

…

Sora coughed as Tarzan dragged him out of the water. Tarzan had been nearby when the whole thing happened. When he saw Sora swim after something that had fallen into the water, Tarzan was curious… When Sora plunged under the water and didn't come up after two minutes, Tarzan was worried.

And now, Tarzan saw why Sora didn't come up. Sora had trouble swimming since he was currently holding onto something or rather, someone. Tarzan's eyes widened as he stared at the girl in Sora's arms. The girl was unconscious, but that wasn't what surprised Tarzan…it was how similar the girl was to Sora and himself…well, almost. There was something that made the girl different from themselves.

Sora looked at Tarzan. "Thank you…"

Tarzan just nodded and watched as Sora dragged the girl across the ground. Sora stopped dragging her once he got her a few feet away from the water.

…

Sora panted heavily as he looked at Gabby. She was unconscious…but she was out of the water. Sora sighed in relief and started to shake the girl awake.

"C'mon, Gabby, you're okay now—?" Sora blinked. "Wha…?"

Sora continued to shake Gabby, but she wouldn't wake up. Biting his lip, Sora placed his head next to Gabby's chest and listened carefully. His eyes widened as, though he could hear a pulse, he couldn't hear Gabby breathing. She wasn't breathing…

"No, no, no…" Sora said. "No…I just found you…"

Sora lifted his head and grabbed his hair as he looked at Gabby. He didn't know how long she had exactly gone without breathing now… What was he going to do? She needed to breathe…

…

Unless…

"_Oh, fuck no…"_ thought Sora. _"But…Gabby…"_

Sora looked down at Gabby, his expression grim. He looked up at the sky and shook his head.

"Why me?" he asked.

Sora looked down at Gabby.

…

He sighed as he titled her head back slightly and placed pressure on her jaw. What Sora did next was something he wished to blank out of his memory and hoped that Seymour would never find out… Sora pinched Gabby's nose and placed his mouth tightly over her mouth. He was going to give her…**mouth-to-mouth** resuscitation. (5)

* * *

A/N *dramatic music* See the note at the end of the chapter for more information on this.

* * *

Sora counted himself lucky that Yuna took the time to teach him when Tidus almost drowned last summer. And he even counted himself luckier since he had to take a mandatory CPR class in school just a few weeks ago. If anything, Sora was prepared, just…not to do it on his friend, who just so happened to be a girl and more specifically, the girl engaged to one of his tormentors…note the ring on her finger.

Sora tried to ignore all that as his eyes diverted onto Gabby's chest as he breathed into her. Her chest rose up, giving Sora the signal to let go of Gabby's nose and remove his mouth. He bit his lip as he listened carefully to see if Gabby was breathing.

…

Sora clenched his teeth when he heard nothing and repeated the process again. He was not going to lose this girl…not after he just found her! Plus…Seymour, again…Sora wanted to live to be an adult and not get killed by Seymour's Aeon, Anima! He heard from Gabby that it was quite frightening!

…

Sora was nearly losing hope by now. It had been more than a minute, now. He panted heavily, his gaze focused on Gabby.

"Sora…" said Tarzan.

Sora looked at Tarzan with a solemn expression. "She's not breathing…"

Tarzan frowned as he could hear Sora's voice cracking under emotional distress. Suddenly, a fit of violent coughing caught their attention. Sora's heart skipped a beat at the sound of this and turned to Gabby.

Gabby coughed a few times before turning her head to the side. She then vomited out whatever water she had inside her and groaned. She felt like hell…

"Ugh…" she groaned, opening her eyes slightly.

The first thing Gabby saw since regaining consciousness was Sora. Her eyes widened a bit as she looked at Sora.

"So…ra…?" she said. "What…happened…?"

Sora let out a sigh in relief. "You're alive…"

Gabby furrowed her brow. "Wha…of course I'm…alive…urk…"

Gabby turned her head to the side and vomited again. She coughed a few times afterwards and groaned again before losing consciousness.

Sora sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. What was he going to do with this girl? Wait…what was he going to do when Seymour found out? Sora's eyes widened as he clutched his head.

"_Seymour is gonna kill me when he finds out…" _Sora thought, a small bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

"_**IF he finds out,"**_ said Blondie.

Sora furrowed his brow. _"Blondie? Where did you—wait, if…if is good."_

**_"Very good,"_** remarked Blondie. (6)

"Sora find friend…?" asked Tarzan.

Sora turned to Tarzan and smiled. "Yes, Tarzan…Sora find friend."

…

* * *

…

Kerchak kept watch over the gorillas as they ate and socialized with each other. It was peaceful…and then Tarzan walked into view. Kerchak's expression dimmed and his eyes narrowed.

Following after Tarzan, was the boy he had found some days ago. However, there was something on the boy's back that made Kerchak's eyes widened. It was another one…

…

Tarzan looked back at Sora to make sure he was doing okay. Sora seemed fine, though a bit troubled, what with the extra weight on his back. Tarzan blinked and turned, his gaze focused on Kerchak, who seemed displeased. Tarzan walked up to Kerchak, keeping his distance just a bit.

"You brought another one," said Kerchak. "Is that what the other is looking for?"

Tarzan nodded. "Yes…but Sora isn't done yet. There are still others he has yet to find. Kerchak, please…you have to let them both stay."

Kerchak narrowed his eyes. "Why should I?"

"Just look at them," Tarzan said, directing Kerchak. "The other nearly drowned if it hadn't been for Sora…"

Kerchak diverted his attention on Sora, who was currently setting his friend down onto the ground. Sora looked over his friend, making sure everything was okay.

…

Kerchak turned away from Tarzan. "They can stay…but once they find—"

Tarzan nodded. "I know…they have to leave."

With that said, Kerchak walked away from Tarzan. Tarzan sighed and made his way over to Sora. His gaze diverted onto Sora's friend. He wondered which friend was this one…

…

Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he looked up. Today was a rather…stressful day. His friend almost drowned, but on the bright side, he found his friend and the keyword was _almost_.

"Is your friend okay?" asked Tarzan.

Sora turned to Tarzan and nodded. "Yeah, she's still recovering, but otherwise…she's fine."

Sora didn't question the fact that he had just understood Tarzan completely. Tarzan wasn't speaking English…and Sora wasn't either. Sora had been living with the gorillas for at least seven days…he had managed to pick up their language, somewhat. (7)

Sora still had a hard time understanding Tarzan and speaking to him, but he still managed to at least hold a simple conversation. Sora blinked as he noticed the perplexed expression on Tarzan's face as the young man stared at Gabby.

"Oh…this is Gabby," said Sora.

Tarzan arched his brow. "Gabby…?"

Sora nodded. "Yes…she's my friend."

Tarzan blinked and nodded. He understood. This girl…she was one of the others Sora had mentioned when he first met the boy. Now the question was…who were the others?

…

…

Gabby groaned as she roused from her sleep. She felt horrible…

"My head…" she muttered.

"You're awake," said a voice. "You okay…?"

Gabby blinked a few times and immediately sat up, wincing when she felt her head throb. "Aagh…"

"Careful…" said the voice.

Gabby turned to see Sora, who was sitting by her side. "So…ra…?"

Sora looked at Gabby and sighed. "Good…you know who I am…"

Gabby furrowed her brow. "Why would I forget…someone with hair like yours, Chocobo Head?"

Sora laughed. "Yup…you're definitely back. Hungry?"

Gabby clutched her head as it throbbed. "Give me a minute…what…happened?"

"You almost drowned," Sora replied as he bit into a yellow fruit.

Gabby's eyes widened. "What?"

Gabby yelped as memories flooded her mind. Everything up till the moment she passed out…she remembered. She blinked and looked down.

Sora looked at Gabby. "I saw you land in the water…what the hell were you doing? Jumping off a cliff? Are you suicidal?"

Gabby frowned. "I didn't jump off…I fell off…"

"How?" asked Sora.

Gabby sighed and tried to move her right foot. She winced when it throbbed.

"Agh…" she said. "I sprained my ankle…while I was climbing a tree…"

Sora arched his brow. "Did you remember to warm up before you went tree climbing?"

"Yes…" said Gabby. "I'm not stupid…Sora…"

Sora blinked. "Hmm…?"

Sora's eyes widened as Gabby suddenly wrapped her arms around him. His body stiffened as Gabby embraced him.

"Wha…?" he said.

Gabby diverted her eyes to the side. "Sora…thank you."

Sora rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. He still remembered what he had to do to revive Gabby…

…

"Uh, Sora…?" said Gabby. "Who's this?"

Sora blinked and pushed Gabby away as he turned around to face Tarzan. Tarzan stared at them curiously. Sora laughed and turned to Gabby.

"Gabby…this is Tarzan," he replied. "He's been helping me out these past eight days…he also helped me out of the water when I got you."

Gabby nodded. "I see…you mind telling me where we are, now?"

Sora cleared his throat and directed Gabby to the gorillas that were around them. "We are with the gorillas…"

Gabby looked at the gorillas in awe. "Whoa…wait…why are we here?"

"Okay, Tarzan here was raised by gorillas," Sora explained as he gestured at Tarzan. "He doesn't speak English, much…"

Gabby arched her brow. "What do you mean, 'much'?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I mean, he's been picking up the language from me…"

"You didn't teach him any swears, did you?" Gabby said, eyeing Sora suspiciously.

Sora shook his head. "No…why would I? He doesn't know any better…so your ankle…"

Gabby looked at her swollen ankle. "Yeeeaahhh…I don't think I'll be walking anytime soon…"

"Do you have a potion?" asked Sora.

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Sora. "If I did, would I worry about my ankle?"

Sora laughed sheepishly. "Ehehe…I guess not. Anyways, in the meantime, I'll give you the lay-down of this place. Do NOT cross paths with that silverback over there."

Gabby blinked as Sora directed her to a silverback. "Why not…?"

"Kerchak…the only reason he even tolerates me is because I saved him from a leopard," explained Sora.

Gabby's eyes widened. "Whoa! Back up! A leopard?"

Sora nodded and grinned widely. "That's right… Guess who outran a leopard?"

Gabby looked at Sora and scowled as she slapped him. Sora yelped and rubbed his cheek.

"The heck was that for?" he snapped.

Gabby crossed her arms and glared at Sora. "Don't ever do anything reckless, Sora!"

Sora narrowed his eyes at Gabby as he rubbed his cheek. "Says the girl who was climbing a tree from a high height over deep water… You almost drowned because of that…"

Gabby turned away from Sora. "I never meant to sprain my ankle…it just happened!"

Sora scowled and grabbed Gabby by her shoulders. "Gabby, listen to me…"

Gabby looked perplexed at Sora as he shook her. "Wha…?"

"My encounter with a leopard was unintentional!" Sora explained before he stopped shaking Gabby. "The thing had _stalked_ me! You were climbing trees on your own _freewill_! Part of your near drowning was your own fault!"

Gabby frowned and looked down. It had been her fault…Lady even warned her about it…

"I'm…I'm sorry…" she said.

Sora sighed. "Please…just promise me…don't ever worry me like that."

Gabby looked at Sora and smiled. "Okay…"

Sora stared sternly at Gabby. "You swear…?"

Gabby nodded and held out her right hand's pinky finger. "Pinky swear…c'mon!"

Sora looked at Gabby in disbelief and shook his head as he held out his own hand's pinky finger. He couldn't believe he was going through Gabby's childish antic, but whatever…

"Pinky swear…" he sighed, entwining his finger with Gabby's. "Now…do you have any bandages?"

Gabby blinked a few times and pulled her hand away. "Eh…"

Sora arched his brow. "Is that a yes or a no?"

Gabby rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, I have some, but…"

Sora blinked and narrowed his eyes. "Spit it out…"

Gabby leaned in and whispered into Sora's ear. "I'm wearing them under my shirt."

Sora blinked a few times, his eyes widening as his face turned red. He grabbed Gabby by the shoulders and pushed her away from himself.

"What the…?" exclaimed Sora. "Why aren't you wearing a bra?"

Gabby scowled and pulled Sora's hands off her shoulders. "Because…shut up!"

Sora placed his palm to his face as he let out an exasperated sigh. "Please, at least give me a reason _why_ you're not wearing a bra…"

Gabby crossed her arms. "Tell me…does a bra resist injury?"

Sora stared at Gabby incredulously as he sputtered. Gabby looked at him closely.

"Well?" she said, smirking. "Tell me…does it?"

Sora just stared at Gabby. "…"

Gabby grinned as she jabbed her finger at Sora's chest. "Yeah! What do you got to say about that? Can an undergarment do that?"

"How should I know?" snapped Sora. "I'm not a girl! I don't wear bras or even have a reason to wear one!"

Gabby crossed her arms and eyed Sora suspiciously. "Hmm…? You have been mistaken for a girl…"

Sora glared at Gabby. She just brought up a touchy subject…

"My voice is cracking…" he said sternly as he pointed at his throat. "It is something that is _only_ exclusive to guys when they get older!"

Gabby blinked owlishly. "So my voice won't crack…?"

Sora sputtered as he looked at Gabby. "Wha…tch…gah! That's it! Breaking point for Sora!"

"But we're not in Wonderland…" Gabby said, frowning. (8)

Sora just let out an aggravated groan. He had no clue what to do with his friend anymore… Tarzan didn't know what to do with the scene that had just played out before him. All he could do was listen and for one thing, it was rather intriguing. Though, he could tell something was wrong with Gabby's ankle…

…

Sora refused to look at Gabby as they ate their fruit. He was still rather…angry with Gabby…and a bit flustered. He had no clue where Tarzan had gone, but he didn't have to worry much. Tarzan had just returned, but he was carrying some things…like plants.

Sora arched his brow. "What is that?"

Tarzan walked up to Sora and Gabby before he held out the plants to Sora. Sora blinked and took the plants. They looked…relatively normal. However, there was something about them that Sora couldn't but notice. It took him a few moments to realize that they were herbs.

"Gabby…" said Tarzan.

Sora looked at the herbs in his hands and then at Gabby. Suddenly, it all came to him. Tarzan had brought Sora some herbs so he could heal Gabby's ankle.

"Oh…" said Sora. "Thank you…Gabby, don't move."

Gabby dropped her fruit as she looked at Sora. "I…don't like the sound of this."

Sora narrowed his eyes at Gabby. "I'm going to heal your ankle with these herbs."

Gabby stared blankly at Sora. "How do you know they're gonna work?"

"Tarzan…teach Sora," said Tarzan.

Gabby and Sora turned their attention to Tarzan. Tarzan looked serious…well, more serious than he usually did, at the moment.

…

Gabby blinked as Sora wrapped the herbs around her ankle. Sora was currently doing what Tarzan had been instructing him to do…via demonstration. Sora didn't know where this was going, but he had to trust Tarzan. Tarzan, if anything, was the most trustful person Sora had ever met.

Though, that didn't mean Sora didn't have his doubts. Like at this moment, where Sora had no clue where this was going.

"Sora…how exactly do herbs heal?" asked Gabby.

Sora shook his head. "Don't ask me—hold on…"

Gabby blinked. "Huh?"

Sora stared at the herbs for a full minute before slapping his hand on his forehead. "Of course! Herbs are used as a basis for learning Cure!"

Gabby arched her brow. "Explain…son of a White Mage."

Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head. This was going to take a bit…

"Okay, you know how the higher levels of Cure have different appearances?" Sora asked Gabby.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah…Cura sometimes has clovers or a burst of colorful petals and leaves…I could go on about Curaga, but I won't."

"Well, here's the thing," Sora began. "When learning Cure, herbs and certain types of plants, sometimes even flowers, are used as a basis. You learn to channel your Magic through the plants…sorta how you did in Wonderland with the Ice Wand and the Jackbomb."

Gabby nodded. "Okay…go on."

"There's a reason why plants are used as a basis," explained Sora. "When your Magic is channeled through these plants, your Magic extracts the life out of them and creates something new…the ability to use healing Magic."

Gabby looked at the herbs on her ankle. "What happens to the plants once they are used?"

Sora crossed his arms. "When your Magic extracts the life of these plants, your body automatically absorbs them. When this happens, something else is also created…a symbiotic relationship."

Gabby made a face. "Wha…?"

"These plants never really disappear when you absorb them," Sora explained. "They become part of you and actually live within you."

"So you become one with the plants?" Gabby said questioningly.

Sora nodded his head. "Yeah…you ever wonder why most White Mages live around many plants and flowers or show an affinity with them? It's because of that. The plants living within you are sensitive to the life of other plants. They tend to be much stronger in the presence of other plants."

Gabby blinked and brought her fist onto the palm of her hand. "That explains why your mother has a huge garden in your backyard!"

"Yeah, and why I usually smell like flowers," Sora added as he nodded his head.

Gabby closed her eyes and waved her hand. "Nah, that's just because you use the same shampoo as me."

Sora glared at Gabby with daggers. "Anyways, Cure is just like any other spell…you use up Magic when you cast a spell. Only this time, it's more along like a deal with the plants living within you… Let them tap into your Magic and they let you use their healing power…it's a win-win situation. And that's about it…" (9)

Gabby nodded her head and smiled. "Okay, that clears up a lot of things…now, how do you expect to do all of this?"

Sora gestured at Tarzan, whom looked rather confused after the conversation between Sora and Gabby.

"Tarzan already said he's gonna teach me," he replied. "Right, Tarzan?"

Tarzan blinked.

…

…

Sora frowned as he watched Tarzan heal Gabby's ankle. He had no idea what had just happened… Normally, Sora had gotten the hang of Magic very easily. However, Cure…it wouldn't work for him. He had succeeded in absorbing the herbs, but that didn't mean he was set for learning Cure. His Magic just wouldn't react to the plants that were now living within him, thus not allowing him to tap into their healing power.

Tarzan removed his hands from Gabby's ankle and backed away from her a bit. Gabby looked at her ankle and tried moving it. She smiled when she felt no pain and laughed when she found out she could stand perfectly well.

"I can walk again!" she exclaimed.

Sora looked down. "No thanks to me…"

Gabby smiled reassuringly to Sora. "It's okay, Sora…Cheer up!"

Sora looked at Gabby. "But it just doesn't make any sense! I never had any trouble with my Magic…not until now…"

"Sora, this is barely your third spell," Gabby said, crossing your arms. "You can't always be on a roll…"

Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess you're right…well, enough about that… What have you been doing the past eight days?"

"Looking for you, Donald, and Goofy!" chirped Gabby. "And I found you, or rather…you found me…"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Sora's face. "Yeah…be careful, from now on."

"I'll keep our promise," said Gabby. "So…what do you suppose we do now?"

Sora grinned as he stood up. He walked over to Gabby and placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Gabby…you're gonna learn how to live," he replied. "C'mon, Tarzan…we got a lot to teach her!"

Gabby felt uneasy as she looked at Sora and Tarzan. "I don't like where this is going…"

…

* * *

…

Two days later,

Gabby's eyes wavered as she hung onto a vine in midair. She had no clue how far above the ground she was, but she could feel her heart pounding within her chest. She stared at Tarzan and Sora, both whom were getting ahead of her as they swung from vine to vine.

"Sora…" she called out.

Sora stopped swinging and looked back at Gabby. He sighed and turned around as he made his way back to her.

"Gabby…you're never gonna get anywhere if you just hang around like that," he said.

Gabby frowned as she looked at Sora. "You told me not to do anything that would worry you…"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "I did…but you might as well get used to doing stuff like this. This is the jungle…you're gonna have to adapt. Besides…Tarzan's gonna end up breaking you, one way or another."

"Is that why you stop being too serious?" Gabby asked. "Because I'm actually starting to enjoy this new side to you… You're you."

Sora laughed. "Well, yeah…wait, you thought I was too serious?" (10)

"Yup!" replied Gabby. "Don't worry…I think it was normal of you to act that way, given our current role and situation. But don't forget…smile and always look at the bright side…"

Sora stared at Gabby and smiled. "All right…I'll remember. Now…let's go!"

Gabby nodded and swung over to another vine. "Good! That means I won't have to hold back anymore!"

Sora looked perplexed. "What?"

Gabby laughed as she swung from vine to vine with ease. Truth be told, it wasn't that difficult. It was just like one of the obstacle courses back at DIA. The only reason she hesitated was because of the promise she made with Sora, which he then told her that he was okay with it.

Sora was shocked that Gabby was better than him at this. He sighed and followed after his friend.

"_I really shouldn't underestimate her…"_ he thought.

…

…

The next day,

Tarzan had taken the two children tree surfing. For Sora, it was extremely fun, but for Gabby…well, it was her first time, so she was current going through a similar phase that Sora had when he experienced tree surfing for the first time.

"You having fun?" Sora asked Gabby as he slid past her.

Gabby looked at Sora, wide-eyed. "Are you kidding me?"

Sora laughed. "You'll get used to it!"

…

It took Gabby until the next day to finally get used to tree surfing, after which, she was plunged into yet activity: wrestling with the gorillas. Terk did not go easy on Gabby and pretty much, Gabby lost, like Sora had. Though, apart from the loss, Gabby had discovered that Terk and Tantor were the same two animals she had encountered during her first day in the jungle.

In a similar situation, Terk and Tantor found out that Gabby was the same girl they had found the day before Tarzan brought Sora. Aside from that, there were no differences between them. Terk got along with Gabby for the most part…and Tantor did the same, as they did with Sora. Though, as mentioned before, that didn't mean Terk would go easy on Gabby.

Gabby muttered angrily as Terk stood victorious on her back.

…

"Why am I doing this?" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora and Tarzan looked down at Gabby as she climbed up a waterfall. Sora knew this would be a bit of a problem with Gabby, given that at the bottom of the waterfall was deep water and Gabby didn't like deep water.

"Sora!" she whined. "I want out of this~!"

Sora narrowed his eyes. "C'mon…you're almost there! Just a little more to go!"

Gabby pouted at Sora. "If I die, I blame you!"

Sora scoffed. "Tch, like I'll let you die…Gabby, you're stuck with me!"

Gabby blinked and nodded. "Nice to see you care about me…"

Sora waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah…keep climbing!"

Gabby shook her head and continued climbing. She was unable to keep herself from smiling. Sora…he was just too fun, now…he was really back!

…

* * *

…

Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy were starting to lose hope, now. It had been two weeks…two weeks! They had yet to still discover any sign of them… Donald was already starting to regret ever fighting with Sora, especially because it was both of their faults everyone got dragged into this mess. Goofy was noticing how depressed Donald was getting and frowned.

"C'mon, Donald…" said Goofy. "Cheer up…"

Donald looked at Goofy. "It's all my fault…"

"Actually, it's both yours and Sora's fault," corrected Jiminy. "Even so, that's no reason to mope about…"

Goofy nodded. "Yeah, ya gotta think positive!"

Donald sighed and shook his head. "I don't know…"

Jiminy frowned and looked around, his eyes widening when he caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a hoodie hanging from a tree branch. It was black and white…and it was tattered.

"Uh, hey fellas…" said Jiminy. "Is that…what I think it is?"

Donald and Goofy turned, their eyes widening as they recognized the hoodie. There was no doubt about it…it was Sora's. Donald was the first to react to the hoodie. He stared at it wide-eyed as he walked over to the branch. Slowly, he reached for the hoodie and pulled it off.

_ROAR!_

Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy immediately froze at the sound of the loud, animalistic roar. It sounded close…and ferocious. Donald looked at the hoodie in his possession.

"No…" he said. "Sora…"

Goofy frowned as he saw the look on Donald's face. He didn't have anything to say this time…

"Fellas, I don't think we should stick around, long," said Jiminy. "If anything, I'd say we should skedaddle!"

Goofy looked at Jiminy and nodded. He then picked up Donald and started running as fast as he could away from there. It wasn't safe…

* * *

A few minutes later,

Sora panted heavily as he clung onto a tree branch. Gabby was right next to him, sitting on the tree branch. The two had outrun a leopard…Sabor, to be specific. Apparently, Sabor was still sore about Sora knocking her out and she saw Gabby as easy prey.

"Fricken' leopard!" panted Sora.

Gabby placed her hand on her chest as she tried to calm her heart. "Sora…remember when I slapped you? I'm sorry…really, I am! Gah…"

Sora waved his hand at Gabby. "Don't worry about it…what happened to my hoodie?" (11)

Gabby looked at Sora and sighed. "I used it as a distraction…I didn't think it would actually work, but it did."

"How did it work?" Sora asked Gabby.

Gabby rubbed the back of her head. "Okay, I put it on a branch and let's just say…Sabor's not that bright."

"Bullcrap!" snapped Sora. "Sabor can think!"

"Yeah, but everyone has their stupid moment," remarked Gabby.

Sora blinked. "Good point…though, where's my hoodie?"

Gabby sighed and started climbing down. "Hold on a second."

…

…

Gabby's head popped out of the thick, leafy branches. She looked around a few times, making sure the coast was clear. It was silent…and peaceful…

"Okay, lower me down a bit," said Gabby.

Sora grunted a bit as he lowered Gabby down. He had been holding Gabby up by the legs and if anything, it was taking all of his might to not call Gabby, heavy…at least, out loud.

"Anything…?" he strained through his teeth.

…

Gabby blinked and looked around for Sora's hoodie. It wasn't where she put it. It was gone…

"Could you hurry it up?" Sora's voice asked. "You are heavy!"

Gabby's eye twitched. "I am not fat!"

"Never said you were!" snapped Sora's voice. "Now hurry up before—whoa!"

"Yaagh!" exclaimed Gabby.

THUD!

Sora and Gabby groaned as they lied on the ground in a rather pained heap. Sora hadn't been able to maintain his balance as he held Gabby. As a result, Sora lost his balance and fell off the branch and since he had been the one keeping Gabby up…she ended up falling along with him onto the ground as well.

"_At least she broke my fall…"_ Sora thought as he shook his head.

Gabby lifted her face off the ground and wiped off the dirt on her cheek. "Okay, this falling on my face thing…it's really getting old now!" (12)

Sora looked at Gabby and rolled off her back. Afterwards, he stood up and started dusting himself.

"Did you find my hood?" he asked.

Gabby got on her knees and looked up at Sora. She laughed sheepishly as she looked down and rubbed the back of her head. Sora narrowed his eyes.

"Gabby…" he said sternly.

Gabby immediately stood up and grabbed Sora by the shoulders. "I swear! It was right there when I last saw it! I don't know what happened! It just disappeared!"

Sora narrowed his eyes as he threw his arms up in the air. "Great! There goes my only hoodie!"

Gabby stared blankly at Sora. "It's just a hoodie…you have a whole ton at home—oh…"

Sora glared at Gabby as he pulled her hands off his shoulder. "I bet you wouldn't like it if your shirt got lost."

Gabby stared at Sora and backed away from him. "You wouldn't dare!"

Sora crossed his arms. "Try me…"

Gabby whimpered and ran over to a tree. Sora blinked a few times as he watched Gabby frantically climb up the tree. What the hell?

"I was joking!" he exclaimed.

Sora blinked and turned around as he sensed a presence behind him. It was Tarzan, whom had been looking around for Sora and Gabby. He lost them a while ago when Sabor suddenly jumped them. That leopard never gave up…

"Hey, Tarzan," said Sora. "Sabor gone?"

Tarzan nodded. "Gabby…?"

Sora sighed and directed Tarzan at a tree. "She's up there…Gabby, get down from here!"

Gabby dropped down onto a tree branch into view. "You're not gonna take my shirt, are you?"

Sora glared at Gabby. "Why would I want Seymour to kill me? Besides, you got nothing under that shirt except for those bandages you insist on wearing instead of a bra!"

Gabby nodded and dropped onto the ground. "Good point…and they resist injuries! Samurais wear them, ya know!" (13)

Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, anyways, let's go…lead the way, Tarzan."

Tarzan blinked a few times and nodded.

Sometime later,

Sora bit into his fruit as he and Gabby talked to each other.

"I still can't believe we outran a leopard!" said Gabby. (14)

Sora looked at Gabby with one eye opened. "You think that's unbelievable, I outran that leopard twice."

Gabby sighed. "I hope Donald and Goofy are okay…"

"What about Kairi and Riku?" asked Sora. "We're looking for them, too."

Gabby rubbed the back of her head. "Well, yeah, but Donald and Goofy…"

"May I remind you that it is because of Donald that we're in this mess?" Sora said angrily.

Gabby frowned. "But…"

Sora turned away from Gabby. "Subject change!"

Gabby sighed and shook her head. Sora was still mad at Donald…she would say something the two being both at fault, but she decided not to. Still…

"Why can't you two just get along?" she asked.

Sora looked sternly at Gabby. "Because I don't like his attitude…he was being _really_ ungrateful. He wasn't going to give this world a chance."

"Well, I get what you're saying, but…" Gabby began. "It's been two weeks, Sora…just let it go."

Sora glared at Gabby. "Gabby, just _drop_ it…"

"But Sora!" said Gabby.

Suddenly, a loud noise caught Sora and Gabby's attention as well as the attention of the gorillas around them, Tarzan, and of course, Tantor. Tarzan was the first to react, looking in the direction where there were many birds flying away from. The sound echoed throughout the jungle along with startled bird cries.

"What was that?" he asked.

Tantor looked sheepishly as he said, "Hey, it wasn't me, I swear! Okay, maybe it was…"

Tarzan ignored Tantor as he kept staring in the direction the sound seemed to have come from. He wanted to find out just what it was…

"Everyone," said Kerchak.

Tarzan turned away and looked at Kerchak, but his gaze quickly changed. His curiosity was getting the better of him, but he didn't care. It was a new sound he had yet to hear…he had to find out what it was.

"Let's move!" said Kerchak.

Immediately, the gorillas and Tantor started following Kerchak as he led them away to a new location. He wasn't taking any chances…

Tarzan lagged behind, only going slower instead of faster when another loud noise echoed throughout the jungle. He wasn't the only one intrigued with the foreign sound. Sora and Gabby also stayed behind with Tarzan. Unlike Tarzan, they recognized the sound… It was a gunshot.

Tarzan diverted his gaze back onto the gorillas. The gorillas were ahead of them, but instead of catching up, Tarzan carefully snuck away from the group. He had to investigate the sound.

"Where are you going?" asked Sora.

Tarzan looked at Sora and paused for a second before imitating the gunshot sound…rather perfectly. Sora looked at Tarzan, stunned with his mimicry.

"Wow…" he said.

Gabby crossed her arms as she looked at Tarzan. "Hey, if you're going, I'm going."

"We're both going," said Sora. "Now, lead the way, Tarzan!"

Tarzan nodded and started making his way to the direction the gunshot came from. Sora and Gabby followed after, only wondering just what awaited them over there. If anything, it was certainly not Donald and Goofy. They didn't own a gun, seeing as they were the Court Magician and Captain of the Royal Guard, respectively.

Today was a first in two weeks that Sora and Gabby had somewhat of a lead, even though it might not necessarily lead them to Donald and Goofy. Still, unlike Donald, Sora was one to at least try.

…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 12-24-11

Oh, god, no…no…what is this? No~! It's filler! DX Gah…it _burns_! Agh…I feel unclean…

Yeah, not really sure about this chapter since it's just filler—it still burns! DX But yeah, at least I finally got the next chapter's plot set up. Oh, a little bit of info! Today is KD's FF account's birthday! :D It's three years old…that's twenty-one in Dog years! Unless I screwed that up, then…screw it! DX

So yeah…three years, I've been a member…it feels so long… I mean, really. A year isn't that much for me sometimes, but as a member of FF, it feels much longer since about most of those 365 (366 on a leap year…wonder when that will be) days on this site typing fan fiction or reading it… it certainly feels long.

Okay, KD's gonna stop being boring and get onto the notes!

(1) _Son of Man_ is an oddly fitting song for Sora... I mean, look at it in context! Sora didn't have anyone to help him out like Ventus, Terra, and Aqua had in Birth by Sleep. Sora learned on his own…though, here, Tarzan helped him out. However, I was talking about Sora's position as a Keyblade wielder. No one taught him to lock keyholes, he learned on his own…but yeah, _Son of Man_ REALLY fits Sora. I like downloaded the movie Tarzan and watched the _Son of Man_ scene so many times and looked at the lyrics and analyzed them.

Tarzan and Sora do have things in common, as it seems. By the way, disclaimer on this song! I don't own it! Phil Collins does and boy, does he make the greatest songs...

Like in _Tarzan_ and _Brother Bear_... Ah, _Brother Bear_...I remember that movie so well because my niece gave me a black eye when she accidentally kicked me in the eye. She was wearing shoes, mind you... It was an accident! We were watching the movie in my parents room and, I think I might've gotten her mad? Yeah, but all I know is that she didn't mean to give me a back eye...she was only three years old! She's 11, now...yeah...

(2) Yes, I know, anticlimactic, but really, I just can't allow Sora to be too cool…not when Tarzan is around! DX Tarzan deserves his spot as most badass jungle man. No questions asked! However, comments are welcomes. Now…respect the jungle man! :C

(3) Before you say anything about how easily Gabby sprained her ankle, let me just tell you this…I actually looked it up this time and here's the thing…you can sprain your ankle by doing normal things, like stepping off a curb. If anything, I wouldn't say stepping off a branch onto another one wouldn't do that…especially since Gabby's been in the trees for quite some time.

You can also sprain your ankle by running on uneven surfaces or wearing heels… Anyways, this little part, sprained ankle, is actually from the original version. Everything started going downhill for Gabby once she kept falling down and crashing into branches…it got even worse when she sprained her ankle and had to climb up the tree again, only to fall and crash down branches.

However, I made it somewhat easier for Gabby…notice, I said _somewhat_ easier. Gabby remembers her experience in Deep Jungle as the worst because of her near-death experiences, such as crashing down many branches from an immense height (just wait until the next chapter), getting attacked by a leopard more than one (that'll come in later), and of course, as of 12-24-11, almost drowning. Just wait until the Bouncy Wilds come into place. Those annoying banana peels that make you lose money when you slip on them will certainly play a much bigger role in this… I'm making Gabby point out this cliché in a much hilarious way…assuming I don't kill it.

(4) I played Final Fantasy X and for ten minutes, I had to play a Blitzball game…I hated it. It was fun once I got the hang of it, but it was just like Re: CoM…it was a _bitch_ to get the hang of. Only difference, I got the hang of Blitzball quickly, unlike the card system, which took me a _week_ to get used to, and that was out of my winter break right there!

Ahem, let's move on…oh, hold on… This is a bit of an ability that should be remembered from now on. Sora can hold his breath for at least five minutes, just like any other Destiny Islands Academy student, unless otherwise, than three to four minutes. That's underwater endurance for you!

(5) Okay, here's the thing about this…this was just a random thought. I was originally going to have Sora just save Gabby from drowning, however…I was talking to **Hestic** when it happened. Here's how the PM went a bit and if you don't get our talk, it's because we're TVtropers…we look up tropes at times for a basis and references. I trimmed it a bit, just for the sake of consistency and I may have changed the wording involving me. This is me after telling **Hestic** my plan…

**KD**: "Now I'm debating to have Sora have to do CPR and had a BSOD of how "Seymour's gonna kill me when he finds out..." or just have Gabby shake it off as another one of the many near death experiences she had in Deep Jungle."

**Hestic:** "I'm sure that Seymour wouldn't mind too much, after all, it was saving Gabby's life."

And that's how I was convinced to do this scene…by the way **Hestic**, thank you! XD And moving on to a more serious note…CPR, what Sora did to Gabby was mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It is only used when the person has a pulse, but is not breathing…

You use chest compressions for no pulse…remember that! I literally looked up a lot of things of CPR before doing this scene…I even used one of my favorite Manga series (I need to read the rest of the series), _Peach Girl_, as a basis in a sense.

Main protagonist, Momo, used CPR on a boy named, Kairi, who just so happens to be a suitor of hers…what? I read shoujo…shut up! DX Miwa Ueda also created _Papillion_, which is my favorite shoujo manga…it's got twins (and a really good plot) and pretty much, it's been somewhat of an influence on anything involving twins in my work…somewhat since Kairi and Gabby are the only set of twins that are female and Touya and Touko are…what's the name?

There's a name for it where twins of opposite genders actually come out looking like each other like identical twins do…it rarely happens, but there are examples of this type of twin…like Len and Rin Kagamine from Vocaloid and no one better start a war on saying they're reflections or twins! DX I don't give a damn!

Also, Gabby didn't have one near-death experience with nearly drowning…she had two. Only 2% of people who just receive CPR actually recover and LIVE… So Gabby pulled through again…yeah, I can't exactly have her dying here. I mean, I labeled this story's genre and humor/adventure. If she dies, think of all the angsting Sora will go through and how much darker this story will get! Yeah…**Hestic** understands.

Oh, and a bit of a heads up: Kairi is a gender neutral name like Sora, but Tokyopop turned Kairi's name into Kiley, which makes sense in pronunciation…think Engrish… aside from that, onto the next note! Yeesh, this was long…

(6) Again, **Hestic**…yeah, we've been buddies since _Secret or Misconception_ has been in her early months…we've been FF buddies for two years, now! ^^ Yup! Oh, as a bit of a note to my SoM readers…I'm going on a hiatus for that story since it's gonna be a while before I get back to the GX fandom…

Blame the recent trailer of Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance…seriously, look it up and tell me that does NOT get you into a KH mood! DX Seriously, I may end up getting into the World Ends With You fandom next, seeing as I'll be getting that game in a few days…damn you GameStop for being sold out! DX That was gonna be a Christmas gift from my big sis! Ah, I'm still getting it either way…

But yeah, do not fret! I shall never give up on that fic! Seriously, I'm like the only one that actually bothered to do a GX fic from the _start_ of the series and not used the dub as a basis! DX Besides, it turns out, SoM got into another community just two days ago and currently, it has over 152 reviews and 34,266 hits…and it's still going! I feel like it overshadows the rest of my fics…Plus, it's over 9,000!

OC: "What? 9000?"

Yes, I know, the joke's overused, but my OC—wait, which OC are you?

OC: "…I'm random…"

Oh, right…now I remember. Yeah, you won't get to know this little OC just yet…anyways, this is a Hercules reference and this is how this came up…when Sora says, "Seymour's gonna kill me when he finds out…"

**Hestic**: "What Seymour doesn't know won't hurt him."

**KD**: "That is exactly how it is for Sora, which is why he says, "Seymour's gonna kill me when he finds out..." It should be IF he finds out. XD Hah, Hercules..."

**Hestic**: "I can see a mental chat with Blondie at this point…

Sora: Seymour is gonna kill me when he finds out.

Blondie: IF he finds out.

Sora: Blondie? Where did you-wait, if... if is good.

Blondie: Very good."

Yeah, as you can see, things get thrown in sometimes when we talk…don't question it! DX **Hestic** is just awesome…

(7) Have you even seen how exactly Tidus in _Final Fantasy X_ learns Al Bhed? He has to find these books to just even learn one little letter…meaning the language is complicated. For Sora, I don't think it would be much of a surprise for him to pick up gorilla, as he has lived with them over a full week…which then turns into two weeks.

I would say that ever since learning Al Bhed, learning any other language gets easier. It makes sense with Tarzan, seeing as he picks it up fast. Yeah…

(8) Ahem, this scene…here's the thing with Gabby. She doesn't wear a bra, but she wears what is called a sarashi. Here's the definition from TVtropes:

A sarashi is a long, winding strip of cloth, usually thick cotton, wrapped tightly around the midriff up to the chest. Historically worn under kimono both by Samurai (to resist injury) and by women (for more "obvious" reasons, particularly in eras when a slim figure was considered fashionable), the sarashi's samurai associations have made them a near-universal symbol of toughness in Japan.

You usually see delinquents wear them…especially girls. An example of the girls would be in Fruits Basket…yeah, that is the perfect example, given that the main protagonist's mother was a Yankee (term in Japan for delinquent) and her friend used to be one as well.

Gabby wears them for this reason: the part that they resist injury and for preference.

(9) Say hello to my explanation for Cure Magic! ^^ It came to me while I was at my sister's house, waiting for my sister and her husband to pack up since we were going back home to my house…yeah, this was yesterday. Anyways, it took me thirty minutes to write it out and clean it up a bit since it was a bit jumbled.

Pretty much, I also explained why our flower girl, Aerith, has an affinity for flowers, seeing as she's a White Mage…well, Mage in general since she has the Magic Points for casting a lot of Magic…I give her Materia for this reason when I have her on the team, which is rarely since Yuffie takes up that spot…

Anyways, I'm giving Aerith the classification of a White Mage due to her Limit Breaks…they all have to do with healing, inflicting status effects, and such… Aerith is really good White Mage support…don't doubt her! DX

(10) I'm not sure if this even fits anymore since I can't seem to keep a good grasp on Sora's character. All I know is that he is the serious one in his partnership with Gabby…and he has good reason to! He's been through things in which "shit just got real". It wouldn't be unlikely for anyone to get serious…

People who don't act serious either are under a cheery façade or are just optimistic. It's kinda complicated to explain and I don't want these notes to get any longer. So yeah…say hello to Sora's original personality! I hope I manage to get a good hold on this as I am currently used to making him serious…don't worry, he'll still be serious, he's just…a little more carefree.

(11) Now the funny thing about this is that Gabby had been the one to lose her hoodie, but now…Sora's the one who lost his. It's kinda funny, actually since Sora made a big deal with Gabby worrying about her hoodie instead of her life…yeah…

(12) And TVtropes would label this trope as "Lampshade Hanging". Lampshade Hanging is the writers' trick of dealing with any element of the story that threatens the audience's willing suspension of disbelief — whether a very implausible plot development, or a particularly blatant use of a trope — by _calling attention to it_... and then moving on.

I'm having Gabby call attention to her own running gag (which is also a trope: Running Gag) since, let's face it! Gabby's been taking hits and falls to the face! It's kinda overused, but eh, I'm just gonna try to hold back on this bit…

(13) I already explained earlier that Samurais used sarashi, so yeah, just pointing it out… The Samurai is also a class in the Final Fantasy Job Class System and it is also a Nobody…yup.

(14) This is starting to turn into a running gag…

Okay, now that we're done…hope you enjoyed the chapter! I didn't because…! DX Filler burns! Gah…

OC: "I'll get the ointment…"

Anyways, you know the drill! Constructive criticism is always welcomed…NO FLAMES! DX I like reviews, but if they are flames, then…:C I work hard on these, in fact, I'm using my vacation time for this! May I remind you that I am a Junior? Soon, I'm going to be a Senior and once that happens, especially after graduation…I'm gonna have to get a life…one that involves me going to college and getting a job…

And after that, I just hope I will become a successful Game designer…I'm aiming to see my name at the credits at the end of a videogame! When that happens, I'll tell you about and then we'll look back on this all and I'll say:

**KD**: "I'm getting old…"

For realz…XD Anyways, till next time! Wait patiently since family's over for the holidays! I hope you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate, I don't judge! In short, I'm saying, Happy Holidays! ^^ And a happy new year~!

OC: "Your singing sucks!"

I knows! DX I need to work on that…moving on! KD out! XD


	13. The Encounter

The scent of gunpowder filled the air. It made Sora wrinkle his nose in disgust. Apparently, his keen sense of smell that he developed in Wonderland, stuck on him… His hearing improved a bit, but it wasn't quite the same as when he had the rabbit ears, thankfully.

"_Fricken' rabbit ears…"_ he thought, running his hand through his hair.

Sora really never did like the rabbit ears… Gabby did, but only out of amusement and the fact that they were fluffy. Tarzan had no clue about any of this.

Tarzan was currently sniffing the air, finding the scent foreign and intriguing. The area around them was filled with a much different look. Instead of the usual green jungle foliage, it was partially foliage, but mostly a huge, bamboo thicket. Bamboo lay strewn across the ground, some shoots damaged and broken from something. There was a path forcibly made through the bamboo thicket.

Tarzan noticed rather strange imprints on the ground… Then, something twinkled in the light, catching his attention. It was a small, golden cylindrical-shaped object. Lightly, Tarzan brushed his fingertips across the object, rolling it to the side a bit. It didn't seem dangerous, so Tarzan picked up the object and held it by the ends with his thumb and index finger.

Tarzan looked curiously at the golden object as he held it up to his face. It felt somewhat warm, almost cool… It was smooth, as well…and it smelled similarly to the scent in the air. Every part of it was gold in color, except for one flat, black end. Tarzan sniffed at it a few times before he started licking at it. Maybe it was food…

Tarzan kept licking at it until he reached the top of the object, in which a very disgusting taste filled his mouth. Immediately, he sputtered as he tried to get the taste out of his mouth, his gaze now focused on the flat black end of the object. It was not food…

Sora and Gabby looked at each other and debated whether or not to tell Tarzan what it was. They decided not to tell Tarzan what it was…it would be difficult, seeing as they had no clue how to explain guns. They were swordsmen, not gunners…

"_Hold on, Gabby's a girl…"_ thought Sora. _"Eh, I don't think she'd mind…"_

Gabby actually didn't, she actually referred to herself as a swordsman, mostly out of preference and because she didn't want to bother saying swordswoman. Though, despite their decision not to tell Tarzan about guns, they still had to at least tell him one thing.

Gabby dropped down onto the ground and looked at Tarzan. "Tarzan, when you find something strange on the ground… don't put it in your mouth."

Sora dropped down next to Gabby. "Especially if it smells strange…"

Tarzan looked at Sora and Gabby and then back at the object in his hand. Suddenly, another gunshot sound was heard again throughout the forest. This time, it sounded much closer…

Tarzan dropped the object and scampered over to a moss-covered tree. He climbed up the tree and used a vine to get on top of a much higher tree branch. He wanted a better view of what was going on.

Slowly, he crept out to the edge of the branch and looked down. His eyes widened as he saw a strange figure move through the bamboo thicket, making a path for itself. It muttered to itself in a language that Tarzan found familiar, but couldn't identify it. He tried to get a better look at the figure, but it was getting far out of view.

Tarzan looked around and spotted a nearby vine. He jumped to the vine and grabbed a hold of it, using it to get him to another vine. He quickly made his way over the bamboo thicket and landed in a tree. He slid down the tree and landed into some foliage, completely camouflaged by it. Sora and Gabby soon joined him, though in a much less graceful manner.

THUD!

Tarzan diverted his gaze on Sora and Gabby, both whom had just landed on the ground in a pained heap. Sora lifted his head off the ground, mentally cursing the existence of weak vines. Gabby wiped the dirt off her cheek as she sat up.

"I hate this…" she muttered.

A voice speaking in the distance caught their attention. Sora, Gabby, and Tarzan directed their attention to the bamboo thicket as silhouette of what seemed to be a man, walked into view. The man was speaking to himself or someone, all while using a machete to slash himself a path through the bamboo thicket. He stopped talking and moving as he stared ahead.

Tarzan's expression brightened as he slowly lifted his head. Suddenly, Tarzan found himself pulled onto the ground by Sora and Gabby. His eyes widened as he realized that he had barely avoided a gunshot that destroyed some bamboo shoots that had been _next_ to him. He can only imagine what that could have done to him…

The same sound and smell filled the air again. This time, Tarzan found the source. His gaze focused on the figure within the bamboo thicket. A large, sharp blade slashed through the bamboo thicket, cutting them down. The man hidden behind the bamboo was now holding a shotgun in his hands, his finger ready to pull the trigger as he looked out for anything suspicious.

Tarzan stared at the man in awe. The man…he looked more like Tarzan than Sora or Gabby did…though, the man seemed older. The man was tall and his short, brown hair was both graying and thinning, hinting at his age. The man wore typical hunter attire and had a pencil thin mustache.

"Clayton!" a voice called out.

Suddenly, another man joined up with the other. Though, the second man was of a much shorter stature and looked older. His hair and thick mustache was white with age. He was a curious fellow, a bit of a bumbling old man. Though, he did have British accent, just like the other man.

"Clayton!" said the old man. "There you are…what is it? What is it? Are we in danger?"

The other man, Clayton, stepped forward and scouted the area carefully.

"I thought I saw something…" he said quietly.

The older man trembled and looked around. He then started to walk around, carefully examining anything that seemed out of place.

"Is it a hippopotamus amphibious, or a rhinoceros—?" the older man was cut short by Clayton.

"Professor, don't move!" Clayton said sternly.

The older man, the Professor, immediately stopped in his tracks in a rather uncomfortable position. He stood on one leg with the other up and his hands in the air.

"Oh, right," said the Professor.

"Daddy?" a much softer voice called out. "Ow…"

Another person pushed through the bamboo thicket, though, unlike the other two, this person was female. She was a young lady dressed in a yellow dress of a certain style with her brown hair tied up in a simple bun. In her white-gloved hands, she held a yellow parasol and a blue book. She struggled to get through the bamboo thicket, finally managing to at least push it away. She looked around questioningly with her wide, blue eyes.

"Daddy, what's all the hullabaloo about?" she asked. Like the other two people, she also had a British accent.

All the force she had been pressing against the bamboo suddenly rebounded and knocked her back into the thicket. She let out an exclamation as she fell back onto the ground.

Tarzan stared agape at the young lady as she quickly recovered and moved through the bamboo thicket. There was something much more different with the person in yellow in comparison to the other two people. For one, she seemed more around Tarzan's age and was of a shorter stature, though she was still taller than the Professor, whom she referred to as her father.

Tarzan noticed a bigger similarity between the young lady and Gabby. He diverted his gaze on Gabby and then back on the young lady. The young lady looked more like an older version of Gabby, in a sense. (1)

The young lady made her way over to her father. "What is it, Daddy?"

"Shh…Mister Clayton asked me not to move," the Professor said quietly. "He saw something."

The young lady sighed and walked past her father as he trembled in his place. It only took the Professor a few seconds before he lost his balance and fell over onto the ground.

THUD!

"Oh, I moved!" he said.

The young lady walked over to Clayton as he searched the bushes with his shotgun.

"Uh, Mister Clayton, sorry," she said. "Excuse me, uh, but my but my father and I came on this expedition to study gorillas…"

Sora and Gabby's eyes widened as they saw Clayton unknowingly point his shotgun at Tarzan's throat. Tarzan just looked up, his gaze focused on the shotgun.

The young lady smiled sheepishly as she continued. "I think your shooting might be scaring them off."

Clayton rolled his eyes as he pulled his shotgun away from Tarzan's throat. He turned and faced the young lady.

"You hired me to protect you, Miss Porter, and protect you I shall," he said, smiling.

The young lady smiled innocently at Clayton. "And you're doing a marvelous job of it, but we only have a short time before the ship returns, and you see—"

The Professor sputtered a bit before exclaiming, "Jane, Jane, do you realize what you are standing in?"

Jane looked down and saw that she was standing on a nest made of leaves. Her eyes widened as a smile crossed her features.

"A gorilla's nest!" exclaimed the Professor.

Jane and her father immediately dropped to their knees as they looked over the nest.

"Oh, Daddy!" she exclaimed.

Clayton grinned as he stared at the nest. "At last! Our first sign in days!"

Sora dropped down behind Clayton and hung upside-down in midair. His eyes widened as he stared at Clayton, very much relieved that he had still gone unnoticed. While he, Gabby, and Tarzan had been climbing elsewhere onto a tree just above the three people, Sora had lost his grip and fell down. Luckily, for him, Tarzan managed to grab him by the back of his belt.

"Do you think the beasts could be nearby?" Clayton asked as he looked up, just barely missing sight of Tarzan, Gabby, and Sora.

Sora clenched his teeth as he could tell Clayton sensed him. Luckily, for him, once again, Tarzan had managed to pull Sora up just in time, just barely avoiding Clayton's gaze. Clayton's eyes diverted over the place before he slowly turn his attention back on the Professor and Jane.

"Well, they could be," the Professor bumbled on. "There's the evidence, you know."

Jane gasped as her eyes came upon a very surprising sight. "Daddy, look!"

The Professor looked in the direction his daughter directed him. His eyes widened in awe at the numerous amounts of nests surrounding the area.

"Over there and there and—" Jane said before her father interrupted her.

"Yes!" exclaimed the Professor. "More nests! I see them!"

Jane and her father looked at each other as they went over their remarkable discovery.

"Just as you predicted!" she said.

"Family groups!" both father and daughter exclaimed.

The Professor chuckled a bit before he and his daughter embraced each other.

"Oh, Jane, I love you!" he said.

* * *

…

Sora and Gabby noticed the rather happy look on Tarzan's face as he stared at Jane and the Professor. Sora and Gabby looked at each other and nodded. They had a feeling that the reason for Tarzan's current expression had to do with the recent arrival of more humans. It's not that they didn't have an impact on Tarzan; it was just that he was most likely assured that there _were_ more people like him. It could also be that the Professor and Jane reminded Tarzan of himself and his mother, Kala.

Sora felt a pang in his chest as he watched the father and daughter duo embrace. It made him miss his own father…and his mother. (2)

…

* * *

Clayton scoffed as he leaned on his shotgun. "Family groups? Excuse me, but, ah, these are wild animals that would sooner tear your head off than look at you!"

Sora and Gabby scowled at Clayton. The impression the man gave off on them wasn't a rather nice one… Clayton seemed to be rather ignorant about the gorillas and lacked poor judgment skills. They were rather glad that Tarzan didn't understand any of this, otherwise he'd asked about it. However, it did explain why these three were on an expedition to study the gorillas…

"On the contrary, Mister Clayton," Jane remarked. "Daddy's theory is that these are social creatures—"

Clayton nodded along as he didn't really pay attention to anything Jane had said. His gaze then focused onto a single leaf as it fluttered down in front of his face. Immediately, he picked up his shotgun and directed up as he shot twice.

Sunlight streamed through the holes in the treetops the gunshots had made. Bird calls echoes throughout the jungle as the noise sent another flock of birds, scattering. Tarzan stood still as he looked down. The gunshots had barely missed his left arm and right leg, the holes just underneath them. Gabby stared wide-eyed at a hole as her face was barely a few inches away from the hole under Tarzan's arm. Sora, on the other hand, wasn't that close to the holes as Tarzan held him by the back of his belt with his foot. However, Sora's heart was pounding within his chest.

"_That could've been us…"_ he thought. _"That could've been me…or Tarzan…or Gabby!"_

Sora looked at Gabby and let out a shaky sigh. He almost lost her again…bad times.

* * *

…

Jane looked at Clayton. "Mister Clayton, please! What if it's a gorilla?"

Clayton eyed the spot he had shot at suspiciously. "It's no gorilla…"

Jane and the Professor looked up. A moment of silence ensued as the three had their gaze focused up at the dense treetops. Clayton was the one to break the silence and change the subject.

"Perhaps we should press on," he suggested.

The Professor picked up his hat and stood up off the ground. He started walking towards Clayton, making his way past the taller man.

"Yes indeed," he said. "Now we should keep heading west…"

Clayton grinned widely as he followed after the Professor. Jane hesitated to follow after immediately. She still wasn't sure if Clayton had said… After a few moments, she shrugged it off and started to make her way after Clayton and her father.

Jane let out an exclamation a something fell onto her head, just on top of her hat. She looked around to see what it was and saw that it was an orange-colored fruit. Not long after the fruit had fallen onto the ground, a small baboon walked over to it and picked it up.

Jane smiled at the baboon as it bit into the fruit and started eating. "Are you what all the fuss is about?"

The baboon turned to Jane as it chewed. Jane's smile widened as she turned and called out to her father.

"Daddy, daddy quick!" she called out quietly, her attention focusing back on the baboon. "No wait, hold still."

Jane held her parasol under her arm as she opened up her blue book and took out the pencil that had been inside. She looked for a blank page and started sketching a picture of the baboon. Unbeknownst to her, Tarzan had just swung from a vine onto a branch just above her. Sora and Gabby stayed behind, not wanting to risk being seen…not yet.

Jane grinned widely as she continued with her sketch. "You may not be a gorilla but you are one sweet little—"

Jane looked up from her sketchbook and gasped as the little baboon had disappeared, leaving behind its fruit. She looked around for the little baboon and froze when she felt something on her back. She blinked and turned, smiling when she saw the little baboon on her shoulder.

"There you go, what do you think?" she asked, showing the baboon its sketch.

The baboon took one look at the sketch and let out a pleased sound. The sketch was very accurate and very well done. What happened next was something that Jane did not anticipate. The baboon snatched her sketchbook out of her hands and scampered off, laughing mischievously as it did. Papers flew out of the sketchbook as the baboon ran off.

Jane followed after the baboon, muttering angrily under her breath as she collected the fallen papers. "Why you little—well, this is absolutely peachy. Come to study gorillas and I get my sketchbook pidged by a baboon!"

Jane left behind a paper, which Tarzan picked up and looked over as he stood on vine. His fingers touched the paper and there were some weird things on it that he couldn't comprehend. Still, it was intriguing…

The baboon laughed mischievously as he threw papers into the air one-by-one, stopping only when he came across the sketch of himself. He looked at the sketch and ran his hand through his fur, almost as if he had been admiring himself.

Jane walked up to the baboon and held out her hand. "Give me that!"

The baboon waved his hand at Jane, refusing her order. He then turned his attention to his sketch and embraced the paper. Jane placed her hands on her hips as she stared at the baboon. She had her sketchbook back and most of her sketches, but she needed the one the baboon had.

"Oh, come on now, enough of this," she said. "I want this paper on the count of three. One, two—oh look, bananas!"

Being the little short-attention-spanned baboon that he was, the baboon turned away to look at the direction Jane directed him. Jane took advantage of this and snatched her paper back from the baboon. She laughed to herself, much to the dismay of the baboon. The baboon held out his hands to Jane, whimpering as he focused his gaze on the sketch.

"I can't believe you fell for that one," said Jane.

Suddenly, the baboon started crying. Jane didn't take any of this and actually found it rather useless.

"No, no, don't give me those crocodile tears," Jane said as she reprimanded the baboon. "What would your parents have to say?"

_Growl…_

Jane shrieked as she dropped her sketchbook. She turned around and found herself being stared at by a large group of much older and more ferocious-looking baboons. They didn't seem take well to one of their young being picked on…

The younger baboon seemed pleased with what was going on…in fact, he hoped this was enough to make the lady give back his sketch. He looked at Jane, who was now fidgeting in her spot.

"Oh, you see?" she said nervously. "I told you they'd be cross."

Jane started to slowly back away as she said, "Go easy on him, children will be children—wagh!"

Jane fell back onto the ground, having just tripped over a tree root. The baboons reacted quickly to this as they jumped off the tree they were on and lunged at Jane. Jane clawed at the ground as she tried to pick herself up. The second she stood up, she started running as the baboons trailed after her. The younger baboon was currently on the back of the baboon leading the group after Jane.

Tarzan, Sora, and Gabby watched Jane flee from the baboons from the top of a tree branch. This didn't look good…and Tarzan knew this. In fact, he reacted to this and jumped off the tree, grabbing onto a vine that was close by. He used the vine to swing himself towards another vine, which he grabbed onto and started leaning forward, his hand held out as he neared Jane.

Jane whimpered as she ran ahead, not once slowing down. She kept going, not even caring that her skirt was torn off a bit when it got caught on a branch. She just kept running… Her eyes widened when she saw she was approaching a huge gap in her path.

Jane looked back at the baboons and then at the gap. She had a choice between angry baboons and a gap that she might not make it over to the other side… She chose the gap.

Jane sped up her pace and leapt of the edge of the gap, closing her eyes as she reluctantly waited for her fate. What she didn't know, just yet, was that Tarzan had grabbed her by the back of her skirt, saving her mostly from falling to her possible death or, if not that, then the baboons.

Jane opened her eyes after a few seconds and looked down below her, awestricken. She couldn't believe it…it was like she was flying. She sputtered a bit as she looked to her left and right. Her eyes widened as she realized that someone's hand was holding onto her by the back of her skirt. When she looked up, she shrieked.

Tarzan looked down at Jane, questioningly. He didn't know why she was screaming… Jane shrieked again as one of the baboons had managed to grab a hold of her leg and was currently biting down at her foot. She was wearing boots, so she didn't feel the baboon's fangs. However, it still did frighten her.

Jane yelled at the baboon as she whacked it over the head with her parasol. She had managed to knock the baboon off of her foot, but in the process, she lost her boot. She screamed again as Tarzan swung onto another vine and used it to leap up to a higher height.

Tarzan let go of Jane momentarily as he threw her up into the air. Once he landed firmly on his feet on top of a tree branch, Tarzan held out his arms and caught Jane. She clutched onto Tarzan for a few moments before realizing what she was doing. She looked at Tarzan and immediately started pushing against him and struggling.

"Put me down!" she exclaimed. "Put me down!"

Tarzan looked questioningly at Jane as he placed her down onto the tree branch. She huffed and started to adjust her skirt, when, suddenly, the baboons were back. Jane's eyes widened as she stared at the baboons.

Jane jumped up off the tree branch and into Tarzan's arms as she frantically shrieked, "No, pick me up, pick me up, pick me uuuuuuup!"

Tarzan grabbed a hold of Jane as he jumped off the tree branch, hurting downwards head-first. He held onto Jane, throwing her over his shoulder as he slid down on a curved, moss-covered tree branch. Jane was swung around a few times as Tarzan slid down on more curved, moss-covered branches. Some of the branches made them move around in a circle, and another made them move in a loop.

Things got a bit more difficult as Tarzan found himself sliding on an intricate set of curved branches that were closely bunched up. Once he slid onto a much smoother main branch, things got worse as there were baboons waiting for him just ahead of his path. Jane didn't take to this well and struggled her way out of Tarzan's hold as she climbed onto his back. She accidentally hit and kicked Tarzan a few times in the face in the process.

Tarzan shook his head a few times and turned to Jane as she wrapped her legs around his waist. She fidgeted a bit with her parasol before finally managing to open it. Once opened, Jane placed her parasol in front of herself and Tarzan. The two used the parasol to their advantage to knock off every baboon in their way.

After a few moments, Jane lifted her parasol out of the way and laughed to herself as she finally found another use for her parasol. It can knock baboons out of the way in tricky situations. She closed her parasol, feeling triumphant. Tarzan diverted his eyes on Jane and smiled at her.

However, Jane found out the hard way that she had missed a baboon as one suddenly jumped her. This caught both Tarzan and Jane by surprise and it would have sent them falling downwards if Tarzan hadn't grabbed a hold of a nearby vine with his feet. Tarzan quickly pulled himself up and grabbed a hold of the vine with both hands and feet. He struggled, though, as Jane's legs were wrapped tightly around his neck.

Jane struggled to fight off the baboon that had jumped her. She accidentally kicked Tarzan in the chin a few times and put him in a rather uncomfortable headlock with her legs before she finally knocked off the baboon. However, as Tarzan swung forward on the vine, Jane's parasol proved to be a nuisance as its crooked handle caught a hold of another vine that had been hanging around horizontally in the air.

Jane screamed as she was accidentally left behind on the horizontal vine. To make matters worse, the baboons were closing in on Jane at both ends of the vine. Tarzan looked back at Jane and let out an exasperated sigh as he shook his head. Saving Jane was proving to be much more of a hassle than Tarzan had expected.

Jane whimpered as the baboons began to mob her. Suddenly, the vine snapped under all the weight and tension Jane and the numerous baboons had placed on it. Jane yelled as she hurtled downwards, the baboons still on her.

Tarzan grabbed a Jane by her left foot, using his own two feet to grab a hold of her. Unfortunately, the baboons were still on Jane, though, to be more specific, they were on her parasol. Only one baboon held onto the parasol whilst the others clung onto the baboon in a cluster.

Tarzan swung onto another vine, his feet still keeping their hold on Jane's left foot. The younger baboon that had been the one to cause all this hysteria was on the baboon that had been holding onto Jane's parasol. He looked ahead and placed his hands on his face as he let out a sound that resembled an, "Uh-oh!"

The baboons' eyes widened as they approached a branch in the way. Just before the baboons crashed into the branch, Jane released her hold on her parasol. As a result, the baboons were left behind at the expense of a parasol, which Jane didn't seem to mind. Given the situation, it was either her parasol or herself.

Tarzan tossed Jane into the air and jumped off the vine. He landed on top of a hollow tree, his arms held out as he caught Jane. Though, in the process of catching Jane, Tarzan ended up doing a very painful and uncomfortable split, no thanks to the hollow tree. He clenched his teeth tightly as he choked back a pained groan.

Tarzan's attention soon diverted away from his pain as he heard the baboons coming in. Jane directed Tarzan in one direction while he looked in another. It didn't matter which way he looked in, the baboons were coming from both directions.

Tarzan looked down and dropped into the hollow tree. The baboons tried to follow after him and Jane, but soon found themselves stuck at the top in a cluster.

…

Jane screamed as she and Tarzan went down the hollow tree. Due to the cluster of baboons stuck at the top of the hollow tree, the tree began to split. It didn't take long before Tarzan, Jane, and the rest of the baboons fell downwards. The hollow tree broke into in half as a result from all the strain and weight of the baboons.

Jane screamed at the top of her lungs as she and Tarzan fell down. By now, her hair was out of its neat little bun and her hat fell off. Tarzan looked around and noticed the vines around him. Quickly, he used his right and left foot to grab a hold of a vine, each. He clenched his teeth as the friction began to burn his hand and foot as he tried to stop his movement downwards.

After a few moments, Tarzan had managed to make the vine fling him and Jane upwards. The two landed on a tree branch, though it was far from over. There was something else to worry about and that was the hollow tree trunk crashing downwards. Jane shrieked at the incoming tree trunk. Tarzan immediately started jumping down from tree branch to tree branch. He only did this a few times as the hollow tree trunk was getting closer and closer.

Tarzan came to a stop on a tree branch and pushed Jane back against the tree trunk. The two barely avoided the hollow tree trunk as it broke off most of the branch they had been standing on. The hollow tree trunk, the baboons, and branches fell to the ground below them.

Jane opened her eyes and Tarzan looked back, turning when he heard a baboon's angry chatter. His gaze focused on the baboon floating downwards with the use of Jane's yellow parasol. The younger baboon held onto the older baboon, the two both staring angrily at Tarzan and Jane.

Tarzan talked back to the baboon in a language that Jane couldn't comprehend. He sounded almost exactly like a monkey, or maybe, a baboon. Jane didn't know what was going on and backed into the tree as Tarzan looked at her. His gaze focused on the rolled up sheet of paper that was sticking out of her skirt's waistline.

Tarzan grabbed the paper and unrolled it. He looked over it and then held it out as the baboon floated by. The baboon snatched the paper out of Tarzan's hands and handed it up to the younger baboon. The younger baboon immediately took it and started hugging the paper as he was very happy to have the sketch of himself back.

With that situation settled, Tarzan smiled as he turned to look back at Jane. His smiling ceased as he realized Jane was gone.

…

Jane had made her way around the other side of the tree. She gasped as her right foot slipped out and nearly caused her to lose her footing. Something told her that this would have been more difficult if she had been wearing both of her boots… She kept her grip as she had her back against the tree. How did everything happen? All she wanted to do was draw a baby baboon…

"Oh, I'm in a tree with a man who talks to monkeys!" she said, her gaze focusing on a nearby tree branch.

Jane wanted to be away from Tarzan, but to do that, she had to get to the other side. She closed her eyes as she stretched out her right leg and pushed herself towards the other branch.

"Oh, I can't do this, I can't—" Jane stopped and opened her eyes as she realized she managed to reach the other side. She smiled widely and slowly moved her other leg so that both of her legs were on the tree branch.

* * *

A/N This is getting painful…ya know, describing a scene that happens in the movie. Sorry if it sounds off, but, for the sake of making this world close to its movie and satisfying the inner _Tarzan_ fangirl inside me…this must be coped with… DX

* * *

"Oh, this is good, this is very good, I—" Jane ceased her smiling as she realized that her problem was still far from over…she was stuck. She tried pushing against the tree. "Wait, one two—"

It worked momentarily until gravity took effect on Jane's unstable balance. She shrieked as she fell forward.

…

Jane looked down as she found herself back in her previous position… She sighed in dismay.

"Oh, it can't get any worse, can it?" she asked.

Thunder and lightning crashed and rain began to pour. Jane blinked and narrowed her eyes as she was completely drenched with water.

"Obviously, it can," she lamented as she looked down. She blinked again as she found herself staring down at Tarzan.

Tarzan looked curiously at Jane. She screamed and immediately pushed herself back in a frantic attempt to get away from him. She struggled to keep her footing as Tarzan climbed up the tree. Tarzan decided to help Jane out by placing his finger on Jane's chest, keeping her from falling forward. He then pushed her back and jumped after her.

Jane landed flat on her rear-end. She blinked and backed away as Tarzan walked over to her.

"Stay back, no, don't come any closer, please don't…" Jane said as she tried to push Tarzan away with her left foot.

Tarzan diverted his gaze on Jane's foot as it pushed against his chest. He blinked and started messing around with Jane's big toe and little toe. Jane looked perplexed at Tarzan.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Ah, hahaha. Please don't. That tickles."

Tarzan smiled as Jane laughed. He blinked when he looked at Jane's skirt. Gabby also wore something similar to what Jane had on, only it was much shorter and she was wearing something underneath it. He wondered why Jane's skirt was longer than Gabby's skirt and if she might have worn something similar underneath as well. Curiosity getting the better of him, Tarzan slowly started to pick up Jane's skirt.

"No, get off," Jane paused for a second as she realized what Tarzan was doing. "Get off, get—GET OFF!"

KICK!

Tarzan jumped back and shook his head. Jane had just kicked him in the chin…this surprised him. He decided not to do that again, seeing as whatever reason Jane might have had to wear a long skirt, it was probably for a good reason.

"It serves you right," said Jane.

Tarzan looked at Jane, whom was currently holding her knees close to her chest. She stared at Tarzan as she tried to shoo him off.

"Now you stay away from me, like a very good wild man…" she said.

Tarzan ignored her…or rather, it seemed that way. In truth, Tarzan didn't understand a word Jane said. Some he did, but most he didn't…Sora and Gabby never said anything like that.

"You stay!" Jane said sternly. "I'm warning you, my daddy won't take kindly to you—"

Jane stopped for a moment as Tarzan invaded her personal bubble. He was getting too close for comfort…

* * *

…

Sora sighed as he braided Gabby's hair. Really, this girl needed to learn how to braid her own hair… He stopped to wipe away a drop of water that dripped onto his face from his hair. He and Gabby were drenched and were currently taking shelter out of the rain under a tree. They were nearby Tarzan and Jane, but out of their view.

It had been difficult for Sora and Gabby to follow after Tarzan, but looking at where they were at now…Sora and Gabby had at least managed to succeed in catching up. They had also managed to see most of the events that followed after Tarzan gave the baby baboon back its sketch.

"Tarzan doesn't really know the concept of personal bubbles, does he?" Gabby asked as she diverted her eyes on Sora.

Sora shook his head. "Of course not… He doesn't know any better."

"Then why didn't you teach him better?" Gabby asked.

Sora sighed and shook his head. "Gabby…he barely understands our English—don't move!"

Gabby huffed and crossed her arms. "Sorry…say, Sora…what's Tarzan doing right now?"

Sora blinked and looked at Tarzan and Jane. "Uh…I'll get back to you on that later…"

…

* * *

"What are you doing?" asked Jane. "No, that's, now that's close enough!"

Jane froze as Tarzan lightly caressed her cheek with his hand. Her gaze focused onto Tarzan's hand. After a few seconds, she flared up and was about ready to slap Tarzan. Tarzan immediately reacted and caught Jane's wrist with his hand.

"How dare—" Jane stopped, having noticed that Tarzan had a hold on her right wrist.

Jane was dumbstruck, not knowing what to do now. She stared at Tarzan as he looked questioningly over at her gloved hand. Tarzan was beginning to think that Jane might have not been really like him, Sora, and Gabby. They didn't have hands like these—

He blinked, his expression changing when he saw a small rip in the glove's ring finger. Jane's ring finger was partially exposed at the fingertip. Using his index finger and thumb, Tarzan slowly pulled off Jane's glove by the ring finger.

It was strange…Tarzan had thought that the white gloves on Jane's hands were actually part of her. Though, as he just discovered, they were just there to cover her hands. Underneath the glove was a hand that looked just like his.

Tarzan placed his hand against Jane's hand, their palms touching each other, as removed his other hand off of her wrist. Tarzan noticed a size difference between his hand and Jane's hand. They were smaller and daintier…soft, even. Despite these differences, there was no doubt about it…Jane had hands like his. (3)

With his recent discovery, Tarzan looked at Jane, a smile crossing his face. Jane looked confused, but stayed quiet…until Tarzan came closer again. She backed up against the tree and closed her eyes as Tarzan placed his ear on her chest. He listened carefully and heard a fast-paced heartbeat. She had a heartbeat…just like him. Smiling, he removed his ear off her chest and looked at her. Jane opened her eyes as Tarzan held her face gently within his hands.

"Oh dear," she said as Tarzan pulled her towards him until her ear was to his chest. "Oh dear, ohdearohdear oh dear!"

* * *

…

Sora blinked and diverted his gaze away from Tarzan and Jane as he realized someone was touching his face. He blinked again when he realized Gabby was caressing his face.

"I don't see why Tarzan's finds this interesting," she asked. "By the way, your face is soft…"

Sora narrowed his eyes and grabbed Gabby by the wrist. He pulled her hand off of his face and glared at her. Gabby laughed nervously as he stared at her.

Sora diverted his attention on Gabby's hand and then looked at his own hand. The whole scene with Tarzan and Jane sparked a new interest in him. Slowly, he took Gabby's hand in his, putting her palm against his. He noticed a size difference between his and her hand and how much daintier they were in comparison to his. This was the first time he actually noticed this…and he had gotten hit and punched quite a _lot_ by Gabby with these same hands.

"_Blondie's right…I am dense,"_ he thought.

Gabby stared at Sora, wondering what he was doing. Suddenly, he smirked and looked at Gabby.

"You have girly hands," he remarked. (4)

Gabby blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes. "I'll show you girly!"

Gabby removed her hand from Sora's hand and deftly punched him in the arm. Sora yelped and rubbed his arm.

"Agh…you hit my funny bone…" he said, wincing as he felt the pain coursing through his nerves.

Gabby crossed her arms and turned away from Sora. "Now who's girly?"

"_They may be girly, but those hands can _still_ cause some serious pain…"_ Sora thought as he continued to rub his arm.

…

* * *

Jane blinked as she heard a heartbeat, her eyes focused on Tarzan. He smiled at her innocently. She smiled back, albeit, nervously, and pushed her hands against Tarzan's chest. Tarzan let go of Jane and looked at her as she laughed awkwardly.

"Yes, thank you!" she said as she moved a few strands of her hair out of her face. "That's a lovely heartbeat. It's very nice."

Tarzan made a face as Jane started to fix her hair. After a few seconds, he spoke.

"It's very nice," he said.

Jane absentmindedly responded to Tarzan as she pulled up her hair. "Oh thank you, I can't do a thing with it in this humidity though, it's—"

Jane paused for a second and turned to Tarzan. She stared at him for a few seconds and stopped fixing her hair, letting it drop to her shoulders.

"Oh, you do speak!" she said. "And all this time I thought you were just a big wild quiet silent person, thing. Why didn't you tell me, I mean I must seem rather curious to you, I mean I'd love to—"

Jane stopped speaking as Tarzan placed his fingertips on her lips. She stared at Tarzan and realized he wanted her to stop talking. Tarzan smiled and patted his chest softly as he gestured at himself.

"Tarzan," he said.

Jane arched her brow as she looked perplexed. Tarzan moved in a little closer and repeated his gesture.

"Tar-zan," he repeated again, though much slower.

Jane looked questioningly at Tarzan as she repeated, "Tarzan?"

Tarzan smiled and made a content noise in response. He then cocked his head at Jane and waited for a response from her. It took Jane a few moments to put two and two together. This man…his name was Tarzan.

"Oh, I see," she said.

"Oh, I see," Tarzan repeated, his eyes widening. He gestured at himself. "Tarzan."

Jane blinked as Tarzan placed his hands on her shoulder. "Ohisee."

Jane looked at Tarzan and realized that he thought her name was, "Ohisee". She removed Tarzan's hands off her shoulders and tried to correct him.

"No no no, no," she said, clearing her throat. "I'm Jane."

Jane held her hand out to Tarzan as she gestured at him. Tarzan looked at Jane and repeated her hand gestures as he said, "No no no, no. I'm Jane."

He even cleared his throat before, "I'm Jane", and did the hand gesture after it. Jane looked at Tarzan. He still didn't get it…

"No, no," she said, placing her hand on her chest. "Jane…"

Tarzan diverted his gaze on Jane's hand as she placed it on his chest. "Tarzan…"

She placed her hand back on her chest. "Jane…"

Tarzan looked at Jane and placed his hand under her chin.

"Jane…" he said.

Jane smiled at Tarzan for having said her name correctly. "Exactly."

A gunshot sound disrupted the tranquility of their moment. Tarzan removed his hand from Jane's chin as he directed his attention elsewhere.

"Clayton!" exclaimed Jane.

Tarzan glanced at Jane before he moved over towards a nearby vine. He grabbed a hold of it and used it as his support as he leaned forward. The rain was slowly coming to a stop and the sun was coming out. Another gunshot sound echoed throughout the jungle.

Tarzan smiled. "Clayton!"

Jane looked at Tarzan in awe. "Extraordinary…"

Jane stood up and walked over to Tarzan. She grabbed a hold of the vine and looked down at Tarzan as she slowly spoke to him. "Um, please, can you take me to my camp?"

Tarzan looked at Jane, smiling, before imitating the gunshot.

"Yes, Clayton, wonderful!" exclaimed Jane.

Tarzan climbed up the vine and grabbed Jane by the back of her skirt. Jane looked nervously at Tarzan as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Um, we, can't we waaaaaaalk?" she exclaimed as Tarzan suddenly swung forward on the vine.

"We waaaaaaalk!" repeated Tarzan.

* * *

…

Sora and Gabby watched the two make their way through the path in the bamboo thicket. They then looked at each other.

"We…we should follow them," said Sora.

Gabby nodded. "Let's…okay, who takes first swing on the vine?"

Sora narrowed his eyes. "There's another one behind you."

Gabby blinked and turned, laughing when she saw that Sora was right. "Oh…well, lead the way!"

…

…

"Wait up!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora looked back at Gabby as he swung to another vine. He smirked.

"Nope!" he said.

Gabby scowled at Sora and decided if he wasn't going to listen…then she might as well get ahead of him.

"_Let's see how you like being left behind…"_ she thought.

And so, a race between Sora and Gabby ensued as they swung on the vines. Sora was ahead of Gabby by a good amount of distance. He was laughing along most of the way until…

_Snap!_

The vine snapped… Sora yelled as he fell down and crashed a few times into some branches. By the time he the ground, he had blacked out. Gabby stared wide-eyed at Sora as she held onto the vine.

"Sora!" she exclaimed.

…

…

Sora found himself in darkness, once again. He was almost expecting Blondie and Lady to be talking to him when a pair of voices started speaking…until he realized that those weren't their voices.

"A boy?" said a voice.

"What is a boy doing in the deep jungle?" asked another voice.

Sora blinked once, his eyes beginning to feel heavy. He was waking up, now… He could feel his body beginning to ache…but that didn't stop him from opening and closing his eyes. Finally, Sora was no longer able to open his eyes.

…

…

Sora slowly opened his eyes, feeling somewhat groggy but mostly pained. He closed his eyes and opened them, groaning when he realized something was prodding his face. He tried to ignore it, but the prodding continued.

"Agh…" he groaned.

"Oh, he's awake!" said a voice.

Sora blinked a few times, his vision beginning to clear. He opened and closed his eyes one more time and then found himself staring into the face of the person who he had recognized as…the Professor. Sora's eyes widened as he immediately sat up. He looked around and realized that aside from the Professor, Clayton was also here…

"Uh," said Sora. _"What do I do? What do I do?"_

Sora had no clue what to do at the moment. He just woke up and found himself beings stared at by strangers!

"What are you doing in the jungle, my dear boy?" asked the Professor.

Sora turned to the Professor and frowned. He wasn't comfortable speaking to anyone that wasn't Gabby and Tarzan in English… Sora blinked as an idea popped up in mind.

"_Of course!"_ he thought. _"Al Bhed…"_

Sora recalled that the first thing Cid Sakaguchi had told his class that Al Bhed could be used to throw people off in certain situations. He was pretty sure this counted as one of those certain situations…

"_Here goes nothing…"_ Sora thought as he sighed. "Ku yfyo! E's hud esbundyhd!"

Sora could tell that Clayton and the Professor had no clue what he was saying. He was glad, too, because what he had just said was a bit conspicuous…

Clayton looked at the Professor. "What gibberish is he speaking?"

The Professor placed his hand on his chin as he looked at Sora thoughtfully. "Hmm…I believe we have come across a native."

Sora looked perplexed. "Hydeja?"

Sora blinked and watched the Professor as he circled around him. The Professor looked over at Sora closely.

"He has such peculiar hair," the Professor said, lightly tugging on Sora's hair. "Perhaps a sign of status?"

Sora narrowed his eyes and swatted the Professor's hand away. "Famm, oui pynamo ryja yho!"

The Professor continued on with his examination of Sora. "And his clothes are incredibly colorful. Maybe they tell which village he hails from?"

Sora scowled. "So rusa ec kuha, oui ehcahcedeja umt luud!"

Sora knew that he might have been a little rude with that statement, but the fact that he was reminded of his now-gone home… Sora was miffed.

Clayton looked skeptically at Sora. "I suggest me move on, Professor. He is of no real use unless he can locate the gorillas."

Sora scoffed. "Kuut milg fedr _dryd_…"

Sora muttered under his breath. He _better_ get extra credit for this class when he returned to Destiny Islands…_if_ he returned. He still had a problem to solve involving finding his family and friends.

The Professor knelt down by Sora's side and placed his hand on his shoulder. Sora diverted his eyes on the Professor.

"Rir?" said Sora.

The Professor looked at Clayton. "Come, now, Clayton. He's just a small boy."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "E's drendaah kuehk uh vuindaah, umt syh…"

Sora trailed off as he noticed Gabby hanging upside-down from a tree branch just behind Clayton. She waved her hands about, trying to get his attention.

"Kad tufh vnus drana, Kyppo!" exclaimed Sora. "Oui'na kuhhy pnayg ouin halg!"

Clayton took Sora's outburst as a threat and pulled the Professor away from him. The Professor blinked owlishly and looked at Clayton.

"He has obviously gone mad, Professor," explained Clayton. "Do take caution with this…Native."

Clayton was lucky that Sora wasn't paying attention… Sora narrowed his eyes as he watched Gabby cross her arms and stick her tongue out at him.

"Naym sydina, Kyppo…" he said sarcastically.

Gabby huffed and deliberately dropped down, much to Sora's annoyance. She landed in a couple of bushes. Clayton heard her landing and immediately turned around, his shotgun poised and finger readied on the trigger. Sora's eyes widened as he realized that his friend was under gunpoint.

"Clnaf drec!" he exclaimed. "Don't shoot!"

Clayton and the Professor turned their attention to Sora. Did he just…speak English?

"Look, I'm just looking for my friends," he said. "Have you seen them?"

The Professor stared at Sora in awe. "By Jove, he can speak."

Even Clayton was stunned with this discovery and then realized; maybe Sora was of use…

"HELLO," the Professor said slowly and loudly as he made hand gestures.

Sora narrowed his eyes as he got off the ground. He dusted himself off, his eye twitching slightly when he realized that the Professor was still talking to him in the same slow and loud manner.

"MY NAME IS—" the Professor was cut off by Sora as the boy informed him of something.

"Not to be rude, but I can understand English," said Sora. "Al Bhed is my second language." (5)

…

…

Sora looked blankly at Clayton and the Professor. Neither had spoken to him yet…

"Screw this, I'm out," Sora said, about ready to leave.

Sora stopped when Clayton aimed his shotgun at him. Sora knew Clayton was serious and he would rather not have a bullet anywhere in his body… Sora sighed and narrowed his eyes.

"All right!" he said. "I'll stay! By the way…you haven't seen a talking dog and duck around, have you?"

Sora immediately resisted the urge to slap his forehead. Of all the people he had to be talking about…it had to be of Donald and Goofy.

"_Great, now they're gonna think I'm crazy…"_ he thought.

Clayton got in front of the Professor, his shotgun still aimed at Sora. "Professor, be careful…it seems he is not sane."

The Professor laughed and waved off Clayton's warning as he walked over to Sora. Sora looked questioningly at the Professor.

"Oh, come now!" said the Professor. "Tell me, boy…how did you ever learn to speak English?"

"Dude…I'm not from around here," Sora replied, narrowing his eyes. "I got separated from my friends and if you don't put that gun down, you're gonna get jumped."

Clayton looked incredulously at Sora, his finger no longer on his shotgun's trigger. Did that native just threaten him?

"Excuse me?" he said.

It was two seconds later that Clayton found himself being promptly tackled to the ground, by a younger and smaller girl.

"GAAAAAAH!" she yelled.

THUD!

The Professor looked wide-eyed at the young girl whom had just jumped Clayton.

"Oh, my," was all he could say.

Sora looked at Clayton and sighed. "I warned ya…hello, Gabby…how's it been?"

Gabby looked at Sora and narrowed her eyes. "Hud vih! E druikrd E fyc kuhhy muca oy!"

"There's no need to…speak Al Bhed," Sora said, placing his hand on his face. "Huh…"

Gabby looked at Sora and noticed that he seemed a little flushed. She frowned.

"Cuny?" she said. "Yna oui ugyo?"

Sora blinked a few times and shook his head. He felt a little dizzy…why all of a sudden, though? It was probably…just him…

"I'm…fine," he said.

It was promptly five seconds later that Gabby realized Sora was lying when he flopped down onto the ground. Gabby let out an exclamation and ran over to Sora's side.

"Cuny!" she exclaimed. "Cuny!"

Gabby rolled Sora onto his back and placed her hand on his forehead. Sora opened his eyes slightly, his vision blurring a bit.

"Wha…?" he said. _"I think…I just blacked out for a…minute."_

"Cuny, oui'na pinhehk ib!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora blinked a few times and groaned. _"I guess all the stress finally got to me…"_

"Young lady, what ails you?" asked the Professor.

Gabby turned her attention to the Professor and clamped up. She didn't feel like talking to anyone…at least, not in English.

Clayton got off the ground after recovering from his fall, no thanks to Gabby… He turned and aimed his shotgun at the girl.

"Professor…step away from the girl," he ordered. "She is dangerous…"

The Professor laughed it off; giddy with the discovery of yet another "native". "Nonsense!"

Clayton looked incredulously at the Professor. "She just attacked me!"

"Well, you were threatening her companion," the Professor reasoned. "I say, maybe these two are from the same tribe! Let's see what we have here…"

Gabby kept her gaze focused on the Professor as he circled her. "Fryd yna oui tuehk?"

"Not as colorful as the other boy…" the Professor mused. "However, I do see a pattern with your clothing's coloring…"

Gabby diverted her gaze on herself as the Professor continued on. The Professor looked thoughtfully at Gabby.

"Hmm…you are wearing jewelry," he said. "That's a nice ring you have there, young lady."

Gabby sputtered and hid her left hand behind her back. She didn't like the fact that her engagement ring was brought up.

"_Seymour…" _she thought.

The Professor nodded and turned to Clayton. "Based on my observations, this young lady is not only from the boy's tribe, but is of either royalty or of high-ranking."

Gabby blinked a few times, her expression perplexed. "Ar?"

Clayton arched his brow at the Professor. "And what led to this assumption, Professor?"

The Professor gestured at Gabby. "She is wearing jewelry. Look at her companion…have you sighted a difference?"

Clayton diverted his gaze on Sora. Gabby blinked and immediately shielded Sora from Clayton's gaze. Clayton scowled and turned to the Professor, his expression changing.

"I believe I have not," Clayton said politely, smiling nicely.

"The boy is only wearing a mere bracelet and a necklace," explained the Professor. "It is quite plain in comparison to the girl's jewelry. Have you also noticed their differing color schemes?"

"Now that, I have noticed," replied Clayton.

The Professor nodded. "Ah, very good, Mister Clayton… I have reason to believe that the red clothing that boy is wearing, signifies his rank as well, aside from his peculiar hair. He must be a warrior, given the color of his clothing. The blue belt around his waist and the silver heart on his back must hint his loyalty…"

Clayton arched his brow. "To whom, may I ask?"

"Why, none other than that young lady!" replied the Professor. "Her nearly excessive wear of the color blue must signify nobility!"

Gabby stared perplexed at the Professor and Clayton. She had no idea just what was going on—

"_Whoa, back up!"_ thought Gabby. _"Sora has a silver heart on his back? This I gotta see!"_

Gabby turned Sora over onto his back in a not-so-gentle-manner, much to Sora's dismay.

"Ugh…" said Sora.

Gabby looked questioningly at Sora. "Oui'na cdemm yfyga?"

"Not…for long…" Sora said, trailing off as he finally blacked out.

Gabby sighed and shook her head. _"Poor Sora…hey, you _do_ have a heart on your back!"_

Decorating the back of Sora's red jumpsuit was a silver outline of a heart. Gabby blinked a few times, wondering how she didn't notice that. Even if Sora's hoodie did hide the heart on his back, right now, Sora was without his hoodie…

"_So how did I not notice?"_ she thought. _"Gah…I'm slow…"_

Gabby was beginning to lose track of everything that had happened. She sighed and shook her head as she tried to rerun the past events. First Sora was inexplicably labeled as a native…

"_Though, thinking of it now, it does make sense…"_ thought Gabby.

Gabby and Sora have been speaking Al Bhed, a language that both Clayton and the Professor do not comprehend. Still…

"_Why do I get labeled for nobility?" _thought Gabby.

Then again, her fath—_adopted_ father…back on Destiny Islands is the mayor of said islands. That actually gave her a ranking, in a sense.

"_Why do I keep contradicting myself?"_ she thought. _"And I don't wear that much blue…"_

Though, she was in her school uniform…

"_And my favorite color _is_ blue—dammit!"_ she thought. _"I have got to _stop_ contradicting myself!"_

And she had got to stop with these inner monologues! (6)

* * *

Later,

Sounds could be heard throughout the jungle, though this time…it wasn't from a gun, but actually from the campsite.

Terk, Tantor, and a group of gorillas had come across the campsite. They had taken their discovery of it and its many appliances, especially the typewriter, and created something with a much bigger meaning…A musical number. (7)

When Tarzan and Jane arrived to the campsite, the whole area was a mess. Though, that didn't matter to Jane as she was too busy staring at the gorillas in awe.

"Gorillas!" she breathed.

Jane's gaze focused on Tarzan as he scampered over to the gorillas, making noises and grunts that sounded almost…

"_Like a gorilla…" _she thought.

One of the gorillas, Terk, turned and dropped a plate she held in her hand. She smiled and dashed over to Tarzan. The two wrestled a bit with each other as they tried to catch up with each other. Jane stared wide-eyed in awe at Tarzan as he interacted with the gorilla.

"He's one of them…" she said, walking up to Tarzan afterwards.

Terk's expression changed when she caught sight of Jane. The other gorillas stopped what they were doing when they realized Tarzan wasn't alone. They all stared at Jane, questioning her presence. Terk stared wide-eyed at Jane and looked at Tarzan.

Terk couldn't believe Tarzan found yet another one…though, this one was much different than the other two. Tarzan urged Terk to go meet Jane. Slowly, Terk made her way to Jane.

Jane stared agape at Terk and slowly reached out to the gorilla. Seeing that she showed no threat, the rest of the gorillas were about to join up with Tarzan. Tarzan was smiling widely at first, but soon ceased.

Jane froze when she felt a breath on the back of her neck. She turned and found herself face-to-face with a rather large, silverback. The gorilla looked her over and Jane…well, let's see her reaction.

"Oh, my—" Jane trailed off and screamed as the silverback roared and pounded his chest in an intimidating manner.

Jane dropped to the ground, her heart pounding within her chest. She was frightened…it didn't help that the silverback lowered his head, his gaze focused on Jane. In a state of panic, Jane grabbed the closest item and held it over her head in an act of self-defense. The item that she had grabbed was actually a silver ladle.

The silverback's attention was drawn to his reflection in the ladle. He stopped momentarily and sniffed Jane. He didn't recognize her scent…at all. He lifted his head and roared.

The rest of the gorillas, which included Kala, soon walked onto the campsite. Kerchak ordered the gorillas to follow him. He didn't like this place…it wasn't safe to him. As the gorillas followed after their leader, Tantor had to go back and grab Terk, who was still staring wide-eyed at Jane.

Tarzan was about to follow to gorillas, but stopped as he looked at Jane. He didn't want to leave her…not when she was as close to a connection to others like him. In the case of Sora and Gabby, yes, they were another connection to others like him, but there was just something different about them…

Kala walked up to Tarzan and tugged lightly on his arm, urging him to go. Tarzan hesitated, but Kala continued to urge him.

"Jane!" a voice called out.

Kala, now frightened, continued to urge Tarzan, trying to convince him to follow her. While Sora and Gabby had once been strangers, she had already grown accustomed to them as did the rest of the gorillas, save Kerchak. They showed no harm and they had even protected the family from Sabor (an earlier event that involved them being a distraction). However, she was not so sure about the others…unlike Sora and Gabby, the new outsiders were complete strangers. (8)

"Jane!" another voice called out.

"Jane!" called the first voice. "Jane, where are you?"

The voices grew closer, fueling Kala's urge to convince Tarzan to leave. Tarzan, though reluctant, finally complied with his mother's wishes and followed after her. Kala and Tarzan dashed into the tall grass and soon disappeared from sight. Jane watched them leave, her gaze staring out.

Jane didn't notice her father until he ran up to her and embraced her. He let out a sigh in relief.

"Jane," he said. "Oh, Jane, thank goodness."

Jane looked at her father as Clayton looked around at the campsite. She never noticed the two children by his side.

"Good heavens, what happened?" he asked, examining the huge mess.

Jane didn't answered, her expression somewhat spaced out. The Professor lightly patted his daughter's cheek with his hand as he tried to get her attention.

"Are you all right?" asked the Professor. "We've been everywhere looking for you."

Jane looked at her father, her expression changing as memories of the past turn of events flooded her mind. She grabbed her father by the wrists.

"Oh, oh my goodness," she said as she and her father stood up. "Daddy, I was out walking. I was—little baby—little baby monkey, and I drew a picture."

The Professor stared at his daughter. "Yes, go on."

"Suddenly, the monkey starts crying, and I turned around and there's a whole fleet of them!" Jane continued on.

The Professor looked at Jane as she started making hand gestured. "What, of what?"

"There's an army of monkeys," Jane replied.

Clayton looked at Jane as she walked up to him. "Monkeys?"

Still going unnoticed, were the two children. Gabby had her eyes narrowed as she tried to support Sora. He was still heavy…and taller.

"A huge tree full of them," continued Jane.

"Monkeys!" said the Professor.

"Screaming at me!" she finished before making an impersonation of a monkey. "Terrified, I was terrified! Suddenly I was swinging in a vine, up in the air, swinging."

"With the monkeys?" asked the Professor.

"Flying, I was in the air," said Jane.

"In the air, yes!" said the Professor.

Jane turned to the Professor as she suddenly said, "And we were all surrounded."

"What did you do?" asked the Professor.

"And Daddy, they took my boot!" Jane said, holding up her left foot.

"They took—" The Professor looked at his daughter's barefoot. "Those were the ones I bought you."

"And I was saved," Jane said, her voice turning somewhat dreamy. "I was saved by a flying wild man in a loincloth."

"Loincloth?" repeated the Professor. "Good Lord."

Clayton looked incredulously at Jane. "What is she talking about?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea," admitted the Professor. "Takes after her mother, you know. She'd come up with stories like that, not about men in loincloths of course, but—"

Jane turned and faced both her father and Clayton. "Oh and there were gorillas!"

This caught both Clayton and the Professor's attention. "Gorillas!"

Clayton left Sora and Gabby as he rushed over to Jane's side. He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her.

"You saw the gorillas?" he asked. "Where, Jane, where?"

Jane looked over her shoulder. "He left with them."

The Professor popped up by Clayton's side. "Who, dear, who?"

"Tarzan…" replied Jane.

"Tarzan?" repeated Clayton.

"The apeman," she explained.

The Professor and Clayton looked perplexed at Jane. Clayton heard some rustling behind him and immediately turned around, his shotgun aimed and his finger on the trigger.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

Jane blinked, snapping out of her dreamy state. Her eyes widened as her gaze fell upon two children whom she had not noticed much earlier.

"Who are they?" she asked. "H-How long have they been there?"

The Professor blinked and turned around. "Oh, Jane! Jane! While we were out looking for you, we came upon natives!"

"Natives?" questioned Jane.

The Professor nodded and walked up to the two children. Gabby narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth at the Professor as he came close.

"Tuh'd lusa yho lmucan…" she said darkly.

Jane blinked and started walking towards the two children. "What…what did she say?"

"I have no clue," replied the Professor. "However, this boy, here…he speaks English!"

Jane focused her gaze on the boy in red. "Daddy…what's wrong with him?"

The Professor looked at the boy questioningly and placed his hand on his forehead. Gabby growled.

"Tuh'd duilr res!" she snapped.

The Professor removed his hand from the boy's forehead. "Oh, my…"

Jane rushed over to her father and the two children. "What's wrong, Daddy?"

The Professor looked at Jane. "He's burning up! Quick, get my bag!"

Jane nodded and turned. "Where is it—Mister Clayton! Put down that gun! There are children in the presence!"

Clayton looked at Jane, her expression furious. He stared at her for a few moments before he lowered his gun.

"My apologies," he said.

Jane nodded her head firmly and turned to look for her father's bag.

…

…

Gabby set Sora down on the grass under a shady tree branch. She didn't like the fact that Clayton had her practically under gunpoint…she still didn't like the fact that, even though he put down his gun, he was still keeping a close eye on her. After making sure Sora was comfortable, she turned and glared at Clayton.

"Fryd yna oui muugehk yd?" she snapped.

Clayton just stared at her, his expression stoic. "You may look innocent, but you can't fool me."

Gabby narrowed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Clayton.

Clayton scowled. "So you can understand English…"

Gabby turned away from Clayton in a rather snobbish manner and focused her attention on Sora. Clayton just scowled and ignored the girl. He didn't have time for a spoiled native princess…

"_Or whatever she might be…"_ thought Clayton.

…

"Oui naymmo cruimth'd cdnacc ouincamv uid, Cuny…" she sighed. "Ed'c hud raymdro."

Gabby froze and immediately turned around as she shielded Sora from the Professor. The Professor looked perplexed at Gabby as he knelt down with a bag in his hand.

"Oh, don't mind me," he said. "I'm just going to check your companion's temperature."

Gabby bared her teeth at the Professor. "Tuh'd kad yho lmucan."

The Professor looked questioningly at Gabby as he reached into his bag. "I'm not going to harm him or anything. Ah, here we go!"

Gabby blinked as the Professor took out a glass thermometer. She looked over her shoulder at Sora and then back at the Professor. She held out her hand to him.

"Keja ed du sa…bmayca," she said.

The Professor blinked owlishly. "You want it?"

Gabby nodded her head. "Ah."

The Professor nodded his head and handed Gabby the thermometer. "Just be careful with it…it's fragile."

Gabby nodded and turned to Sora. She looked over the thermometer and then at Sora. Carefully, she shook Sora, trying to at least wake him up. Sora groaned and opened his eyes slightly, his vision blurry.

Sora tried to focus on Gabby as she looked down at him. He only managed to make out a few features before he suddenly said, "M-Mom?"

Gabby blinked and smiled as she softly laughed. She was about to make a remark when Sora suddenly sat up, his gaze focused on her.

"Mom!" he said before wrapping his arms around Gabby.

Gabby frowned as Sora embraced her. She wasn't his mother, far from it… It must have been the fever. However…she found herself unable to correct him. He sounded so…ecstatic…

"Mom…where have you been?" he asked. "I'm sorry I left…I'm sorry…"

Gabby bit her lip as she felt a pang in her chest. She didn't know what to do…

"_He really misses his mother…"_ she thought as she returned Sora's embrace.

The Professor frowned as he saw what had happened. The boy had grown delirious, most likely from his fever. When the girl woke the boy, he mistook her for his mother… Something must have happened between the boy and his mother for him to act this way.

Gabby slowly pushed her hands against Sora's chest. Sora blinked and released Gabby, whom he thought was his mother. He looked questioningly at her.

"Mom…?" he said. "Are you mad at me?"

Gabby said nothing. She just held out the thermometer to Sora. Sora blinked as Gabby placed his hand on his forehead and looked at the thermometer. Putting two and two together, he nodded.

"Oh, I see…" he said. "I'm sick…well, don't worry, Mom. I'll get better…" (9)

…

…

Sora just had a fever, nothing too serious. It was probably from all the stress he had gone through this entire week… It finally got to him when he and Gabby encountered other humans for the first time in two weeks. Sora was currently asleep and Gabby was watching him, adjusting the damp washcloth, courtesy of Jane, folded on his forehead every few minutes.

…

"Mom…I'm sorry…" Sora muttered in his sleep.

Gabby bit her lip as she clenched the washcloth in her hand. She had been dampening the washcloth in a bowl of water (also a courtesy of Jane) when Sora had just muttered in his sleep. He was still going on about his mother…and he seemed troubled as he slept. He fidgeted in his sleep, his eyebrows knitted together, and his mouth formed into a frown.

Sighing, Gabby folded the washcloth before gently placing it on top of Sora's forehead. As she did this, she started humming a tune.

…

Jane had been picking up numerous pages on the ground when she heard humming. She stopped and stood up. She looked around, her gaze focusing on the two children. The humming sounded as if it was coming from them. Slowly, she started walking towards them. The humming grew louder and louder as she neared.

The humming was indeed coming from them or more specifically, the young girl. She was humming a tune as she tended to the boy in his fever-stricken state. The tune was of a gentle melody with melancholic undertones. It was quite lovely, in Jane's opinion.

Jane stood behind the girl, debating whether or not to speak to her. Jane decided to wait a few minutes before she said anything.

…

Gabby continued humming as she watched Sora closely. He seemed much more relaxed, now… The tune she had been humming was a tune that Gabby had memorized by heart… It was the tune from her music box; the same one Sora had given her as a gift almost nine years ago.

Gabby couldn't help but feel sad as she hummed. She had lost the music box. She had no clue if it was really lost or just misplaced. If anything, it was probably still on the island… However, with the island gone…it might as well be considered lost.

"My, that's a lovely tune you're humming," said a voice.

Gabby stopped humming altogether and looked over her shoulder to see Jane. Jane smiled warmly at her. Gabby just stared at Jane wide-eyed.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," Jane assured. "I just wanted to meet you."

Gabby relaxed a bit, slowly turning her gaze back on Sora. Jane walked to Gabby's side and knelt down by her. Gabby pretended not to notice Jane.

"Oh, where are my manners…" said Jane. "My name is Jane…is yours?"

Gabby stayed silent, her gaze focused on Sora. Jane blinked and looked at Sora.

"He'll be fine," Jane reassured. "He just needs his rest… I'm terribly sorry about Clayton. He tends to overreact…"

Gabby didn't respond.

…

Jane sighed and stood up. She decided to try again later. Maybe she could at least get a reaction from the girl then…

* * *

…

…

The sun was beginning to set by the time Kerchak had led the group far enough into the jungle. The gorillas circled around their leader as he spoke to them.

"Everyone, we will avoid the strangers," Kerchak said. "Do not let them see you and do not seek them out."

"They mean us no harm, Kerchak," Tarzan blurted out.

Kerchak looked down at Tarzan. "Tarzan, I don't know that."

Tarzan wouldn't stand for this. "But I do, I've spent time with them…we've spent time with them. Have you forgotten about Sora and Gabby?"

Kerchak scowled at Tarzan. "You may be willing to risk our safety, but I'm not. At first, it was just Sora…and then came along one of his friends. Now look at what has happened! They have done nothing but attract more of those strangers."

Tarzan clenched his teeth and walked up to Kerchak. He didn't like the attitude Kerchak had when he spoke of Sora and Gabby. Sora and Gabby…they had done nothing but help the family. They risked their lives to lure Sabor away from them much earlier today. How could Kerchak forget that?

Was it because Sora and Gabby were different like him? Was it because of that? For Tarzan, it was one thing being treated differently because of how he looked, but when Kerchak did the same to his friends… That was where it crossed the line… Kerchak had no idea how much those have been through…

"Why are you threatened by anyone different from you?" Tarzan asked angrily.

Kerchak growled and walked closer to Tarzan. "Protect this family, and stay away from them!"

Tarzan glared at Kerchak for a few moments before turning. He huffed and walked away from Kerchak, feeling very frustrated. Kala stopped him and tried to persuade him.

"Tarzan, for once, listen to Kerchak," she pleaded.

In the first week he had known Sora and brought him to the gorillas, there was a question Tarzan wanted to ask his mother. However, he decided against it as he was just glad that there were others like him. Though, now…Tarzan was in a much different state. He was frustrated with Kerchak's treatment of…"strangers".

Tarzan looked at Kala, his eyes beginning to glisten with tears. "Why didn't you tell me there were creatures that look like me?"

Kala frowned as Tarzan walked away from her in such an emotional state. She wanted to comfort him, but how could she when she was part of the reason that put him in such a state. She focused her attention on Tarzan as he climbed onto a tree. He sat down himself down once he was high and far enough away from everyone.

Tarzan brought his knees to his chest and looked down. Everything had gone from being so perfect to so…what happened? He had no idea…just like his concerns of his friends' whereabouts.

"_Where are they?" _he thought. (10)

…

* * *

…

Jane walked out of her tent and let out a tired sigh. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and looked around the campsite. It was certainly much neater than it was earlier…by a long shot.

By now, Jane had decided to change into something more casual. Her hair was down, its long length reaching past her shoulders. She wore a faded beige tank top with a long, brown skirt that reached down to her just above her ankles. Her skirt was held up by a knot on the right side of her hip, exposing most of her right leg. She was barefooted on both feet, now.

Jane blinked as her gaze fell upon the two children. She could barely see them due to the lack of lighting and the darkened sky. It was late…the stars were just barely appearing in the night sky. Thankfully, Clayton had just lit a lamp, providing some decent lighting at least.

Clayton was still keeping watch on the two children, making sure that neither of them left the campsite. A few times, the girl stood up to get some more water for her companion, but nothing more.

…

Clayton could tell that his presence was unwanted as he stood behind the young girl. Her presence was also unwanted to him…but he needed her and her companion. They were his only lead to the gorillas…they understood English and the boy spoke the language as well. As natives, they ought to know their way around the jungle.

"Mister Clayton," said a voice.

Clayton turned away from the two. He arched his brow as he found himself looking down at Jane. Jane smiled as she looked at Clayton.

"Mister Clayton, you can move along, now," she said. "I'll take care of these two."

Clayton smiled back. "I thank you for your kind offer, but I am afraid I must refuse it. I cannot leave you alone with these two. They might attack you."

Jane crossed her arms. "Mister Clayton, they are just children."

"Do not be fooled by their innocent faces," Clayton warned. "That young girl right there, she attacked me earlier today. She is quite capable of taking down people like me."

Jane diverted her gaze on the young girl. "Oh, really…? This young lady…attacked you?"

Clayton nodded. "I'm quite embarrassed to say it, but yes…she did."

Jane laughed. "Well, she must have her reasons… I can take care of myself, Mister Clayton. Go on ahead, you must be exhausted."

Clayton looked at Jane and shook his head. Knowing her, she wasn't going to give up. Sighing, Clayton handed Jane the lit kerosene lamp.

"Very well," he said. "But do take caution…"

Jane nodded and smiled. "Thank you for being so cooperative…"

Clayton looked at the two children one last time before he made his way towards the tents. Once he entered a tent, Jane turned her attention to the two children. She knelt down by the girl's side and looked at the girl.

"Hello, it's me again," Jane said softly. "I've set up a place for you in my tent if you want a place to rest for the night. You can take your friend with you if you wish…if not, I'll get Daddy to set up one for him."

The girl stayed silent, but she seemed to have understood Jane. The girl maneuvered the boy into a sitting position before placing his arm around her shoulder. She grabbed onto the boy's belt and began to stand up, trying to pull the boy up along with her. Jane could tell the girl was having difficulty and decided to help.

Gabby looked at Jane as the older girl helped her move Sora. Still, she said nothing… Gabby wasn't ready to talk to anyone just yet.

…

…

Gabby looked at Sora as she pulled up the blankets to cover him. Sora was lying down on a makeshift bed set on ground. They were inside Jane's tent…and just like Jane said, she had set up a place for Gabby, but Gabby decided to give it to Sora instead. He needed it more than she did…

"Here you go, young lady," said Jane.

Gabby turned to see Jane walk into the tent. Jane was carrying a bowl of water with a white washcloth draped around her arm. She walked up to a small table next to her bed and set the bowl down.

Jane took the washcloth off her arm and folded it before dipping it into the water. Afterwards, Jane handed Gabby the dampened washcloth. Gabby took the washcloth without a word and placed it on Sora's forehead. Jane looked at Gabby and frowned.

There was something about the young girl…that seemed wrong. She hadn't spoken since Jane's father diagnosed her friend with a simple fever.

"It's just a fever," said Jane. "He'll be all right."

Gabby frowned as she looked at Sora. Various emotions flooded her as she remembered the past events. On that day it all happened…she was proposed to. It was something that kept being brought up, much to her dismay. They finished the raft and were gathering supplies…

"_We were gonna travel to other worlds…"_ she thought.

Then the Heartless came and ruined everything. Riku disappeared into darkness, Kairi…she disappeared, too…and the island. Everyone…well, almost everyone. Tidus, Selphie, and Yuna made it out, like Gabby and Sora…but aside from them, no one else…

Including Sora's parents…Sora…he missed them. Gabby missed hers as well, even though she never did acknowledge them as her mother and father and only referred to them by their names. Her eyes widened as a thought popped up in mind. Maybe…maybe she ended up on Destiny Islands nearly nine years ago because…her world was taken over by Heartless. It seemed possible, but she wasn't sure…still, everything.

"_Why us?"_ she thought. _"Why me—no…not me… Why him?"_

Sora didn't deserve any of this, and neither did she, but Sora… He had real parents, not surrogates…he remembered everything that had happened on the Island since he was younger, with the help of his parents, of course. He wasn't a stranger…like her…or Kairi… Kairi…

"_Where are you?"_ she thought.

"Is something wrong?" asked Jane.

Gabby snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Jane. Jane blinked as she looked at Gabby, their eyes looking into each other. Neither spoke for a few minutes.

The silence was broken by Sora, who muttered in his sleep, "Mama…"

Gabby blinked a few times before she finally spoke. "Ma…ma?"

That word…it felt so foreign to say. How long has it been…since she last said that word? Gabby's eyes widened as her head throbbed. She clutched her head as memories flooded her head. She was remembering…she had to be, otherwise it wouldn't hurt this much. She couldn't close her eyes this time and the pain was unbearable. Tears welded up in the corner of her eyes as the pain came…and went.

Her eyes widened as a memory flashed, giving her a mental image. This one was different. The memory was of a face belonging to another woman with blue eyes who looked like…herself and Kairi. It was like looking into a mirror…and seeing a slightly older version of themselves. She had a kind face with a warm and protective look in her eyes…it made Gabby feel safe.

Gabby's breath hitched as she felt a pain in her chest. She felt sad…almost as if she would never see that face again… She had no idea why she felt this way…

…

Jane was astonished to see the tears flowing down the young girl's face as she stared out blankly at nothing. What happened next took Jane completely by surprise as the young girl started bawling, crying out only one thing, "MAAMAAAAAA!" (11)

"Oh…oh, my," said Jane.

Jane stared at the young girl as she continued crying. Was this the reason why the girl hadn't been talking? She had been missing her mother…

"Maamaa!" cried Gabby. "Maamaaaaaa!"

Gabby had no idea why she was saying that word. It kept popping up in her mind… Her chest hurt and her eyes burned…the tears just kept coming. She couldn't stop.

…

Gabby's cries were loud enough to be heard throughout the campsite. The Professor and Clayton immediately barged into Jane's tent moments after the crying began.

"Good heavens," said Clayton. "What on Earth is going on?"

"Jane, is everything all right?" asked the Professor.

The Professor and Clayton ceased their talking as their gaze fell upon Jane. Jane was sitting on her knees, currently comforting the young girl as she cried into her shoulder.

"Shh, it's all right…" Jane said soothingly. "It's all right…"

The Professor looked perplexed. "What happened?"

Jane diverted her eyes on her father. "She wants her mother… Daddy, Mister Clayton…we have to take them back."

"That's preposterous," said Clayton. "They may be our only lead to the gorillas."

Jane looked sternly at Clayton. "Mister Clayton, may I remind you that they are only children?"

"They're not going anywhere," said Clayton. "Not when the boy is ill."

The Professor looked at Clayton and then at Jane. "Mister Clayton is right, dear. The boy has to recover first…"

Jane looked down at the girl whom she was comforting. The girl had quieted down, somewhat, though she still continued to cry.

"Mama…" she sobbed.

Jane looked at her father. "Very well…but when the boy recovers, they both go."

Clayton smiled. "Good…well, I must go. Goodnight Jane…Professor…"

Jane and her father watched Clayton walk out of the tent. Afterwards, the two looked at each other.

"Daddy, where did you say you found these two?" asked Jane.

The Professor placed his hand on his chin. "Somewhere along in the jungle…I really can't recall where. The boy just suddenly dropped down and landed on the ground."

"And the girl?" asked Jane.

"She attacked Mister Clayton," the Professor answered. "Though, he shouldn't have provoked her in the first place."

Jane nodded and looked down at the girl. It seemed that Clayton had been telling the truth about this girl. There was obviously more to these two children…

"Daddy, would you care to tell me about your observations on these two children?" she asked.

The Professor blinked and laughed. "Of course! I believe the boy must be a warrior…"

…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 12-30-11

Okay, I had absolutely no clue how to end this chapter, so please excuse the ending, ahem… As you can see, this chapter is most likely one of the most serious chapters in this story. Truth be told, it wasn't my intention but it just happened. Yeah…

So anyways…how was everyone's holiday? Just to let you guys know…I got a 3DS for Christmas! :D That means KD be ready for Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance!

OC: "WOO!"

And just yesterday, my _World Ends With You _game came in the mail! :D I'm doubled prepared for KH3D! Yeah! Also…Neku, that is all. Let's get onto the notes, shall we? But first! Let's translate!

* * *

"Here goes nothing…" Sora thought as he sighed. "Go away! I'm not important!"

Sora could tell that Clayton and the Professor had no clue what he was saying. He was glad, too, because what he had just said was a bit conspicuous…

Clayton looked at the Professor. "What gibberish is he speaking?"

The Professor placed his hand on his chin as he looked at Sora thoughtfully. "Hmm…I believe we have come across a native."

Sora looked perplexed. "Native?"

Sora blinked and watched the Professor as he circled around him. The Professor looked over at Sora closely.

"He has such peculiar hair," the Professor said, lightly tugging on Sora's hair. "Perhaps a sign of status?"

Sora narrowed his eyes and swatted the Professor's hand away. "Well, you barely have any!"

The Professor continued on with his examination of Sora. "And his clothes are incredibly colorful. Maybe they tell which village he hails from?"

Sora scowled. "My home is gone, you insensitive old coot!"

Sora knew that he might have been a little rude with that statement, but the fact that he was reminded of his now-gone home… Sora was miffed.

Clayton looked skeptically at Sora. "I suggest me move on, Professor. He is of no real use unless he can locate the gorillas."

Sora scoffed. "Good luck with that…"

Sora muttered under his breath. He better get extra credit for this class when he returned to Destiny Islands…if he returned. He still had a problem to solve involving finding his family and friends.

The Professor knelt down by Sora's side and placed his hand on his shoulder. Sora diverted his eyes on the Professor.

"Huh?" said Sora.

The Professor looked at Clayton. "Come, now, Clayton. He's just a small boy."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "I'm thirteen going on fourteen, old man…"

Sora trailed off as he noticed Gabby hanging upside-down from a tree branch just behind Clayton. She waved her hands about, trying to get his attention.

"Get down from there, Gabby!" exclaimed Sora. "You're gonna break your neck!"

Clayton took Sora's outburst as a threat and pulled the Professor away from him. The Professor blinked owlishly and looked at Clayton.

"He has obviously gone mad, Professor," explained Clayton. "Do take caution with this…Native."

Clayton was lucky that Sora wasn't paying attention… Sora narrowed his eyes as he watched Gabby cross her arms and stick her tongue out at him.

"Real mature, Gabby…" he said sarcastically.

Gabby huffed and deliberately dropped down, much to Sora's annoyance. She landed in a couple of bushes. Clayton heard her landing and immediately turned around, his shotgun poised and finger readied on the trigger. Sora's eyes widened as he realized that his friend was under gunpoint.

"Screw this!" he exclaimed. "Don't shoot!"

Clayton and the Professor turned their attention to Sora. Did he just…speak English?

…

* * *

Gah, I made Clayton sound a little racist. DX Sorry about that! Okay, let's move onto the next translation…

* * *

Sora looked at Clayton and sighed. "I warned ya…hello, Gabby…how's it been?"

Gabby looked at Sora and narrowed her eyes. "Not fun! I thought I was gonna lose ya!"

"There's no need to…speak Al Bhed," Sora said, placing his hand on his face. "Huh…"

Gabby looked at Sora and noticed that he seemed a little flushed. She frowned

"Sora?" she said. "Are you okay?"

Sora blinked a few times and shook his head. He felt a little dizzy…why all of a sudden, though? It was probably…just him…

"I'm…fine," he said.

It was promptly five seconds later that Gabby realized Sora was lying when he flopped down onto the ground. Gabby let out an exclamation and ran over to Sora's side.

"Sora!" she exclaimed. "Sora!"

Gabby rolled Sora onto his back and placed her hand on his forehead. Sora opened his eyes slightly, his vision blurring a bit.

"Wha…?" he said. "I think…I just blacked out for a…minute."

"Sora, you're burning up!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora blinked a few times and groaned. "I guess all the stress finally got to me…"

"Young lady, what ails you?" asked the Professor.

Gabby turned her attention to the Professor and clamped up. She didn't feel like talking to anyone…at least, not in English.

Clayton got off the ground after recovering from his fall, no thanks to Gabby… He turned and aimed his shotgun at the girl.

"Professor…step away from the girl," he ordered. "She is dangerous…"

The Professor laughed it off; giddy with the discovery of yet another "native". "Nonsense!"

Clayton looked incredulously at the Professor. "She just attacked me!"

"Well, you were threatening her companion," the Professor reasoned. "I say, maybe these two are from the same tribe! Let's see what we have here…"

Gabby kept her gaze focused on the Professor as he circled her. "What are you doing?"

"Not as colorful as the other boy…" the Professor mused. "However, I do see a pattern with your clothing's coloring…"

Gabby diverted her gaze on herself as the Professor continued on. The Professor looked thoughtfully at Gabby.

"Hmm…you are wearing jewelry," he said. "That's a nice ring you have there, young lady."

Gabby sputtered and hid her left hand behind her back. She didn't like the fact that her engagement ring was brought up.

"Seymour…" she thought.

The Professor nodded and turned to Clayton. "Based on my observations, this young lady is not only from the boy's tribe, but is of either royalty or of high-ranking."

Gabby blinked a few times, her expression perplexed. "Eh?"

Clayton arched his brow at the Professor. "And what led to this assumption, Professor?"

The Professor gestured at Gabby. "She is wearing jewelry. Look at her companion…have you sighted a difference?"

Clayton diverted his gaze on Sora. Gabby blinked and immediately shielded Sora from Clayton's gaze. Clayton scowled and turned to the Professor, his expression changing.

"I believe I have not," Clayton said politely, smiling nicely.

"The boy is only wearing a mere bracelet and a necklace," explained the Professor. "It is quite plain in comparison to the girl's jewelry. Have you also noticed their differing color schemes?"

"Now that, I have noticed," replied Clayton.

The Professor nodded. "Ah, very good, Mister Clayton… I have reason to believe that the red clothing that boy is wearing, signifies his rank as well, aside from his peculiar hair. He must be a warrior, given the color of his clothing. The blue belt around his waist and the silver heart on his back must hint his loyalty…"

Clayton arched his brow. "To whom, may I ask?"

"Why, none other than that young lady!" replied the Professor. "Her nearly excessive wear of the color blue must signify nobility!"

Gabby stared perplexed at the Professor and Clayton. She had no idea just what was going on—

"Whoa, back up!" thought Gabby. "Sora has a silver heart on his back? This I gotta see!"

Gabby turned Sora over onto his back in a not-so-gentle-manner, much to Sora's dismay.

"Ugh…" said Sora.

Gabby looked questioningly at Sora. "You're still awake?"

"Not…for long…" Sora said, trailing off as he finally blacked out.

…

* * *

Gabby just _loves_ speaking Al Bhed…

OC: "Your fault."

I don't wanna hear it…

The Professor nodded and walked up to the two children. Gabby narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth at the Professor as he came close.

"Don't come any closer…" she said darkly.

Jane blinked and started walking towards the two children. "What…what did she say?"

"I have no clue," replied the Professor. "However, this boy, here…he speaks English!"

Jane focused her gaze on the boy in red. "Daddy…what's wrong with him?"

The Professor looked at the boy questioningly and placed his hand on his forehead. Gabby growled.

"Don't touch him!" she snapped.

The Professor removed his hand from the boy's forehead. "Oh, my…"

I think this is the last of it and if I forget to translate a part, tell me so I can fix it.

Gabby set Sora down on the grass under a shady tree branch. She didn't like the fact that Clayton had her practically under gunpoint…she still didn't like the fact that, even though he put down his gun, he was still keeping a close eye on her. After making sure Sora was comfortable, she turned and glared at Clayton.

"What are you looking at?" she snapped.

Clayton just stared at her, his expression stoic. "You may look innocent, but you can't fool me."

Gabby narrowed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Clayton.

Clayton scowled. "So you can understand English…"

Gabby turned away from Clayton in a rather snobbish manner and focused her attention on Sora. Clayton just scowled and ignored the girl. He didn't have time for a spoiled native princess…

"Or whatever she might be…" thought Clayton.

…

"You really shouldn't stress yourself out, Sora…" she sighed. "It's not healthy."

Gabby froze and immediately turned around as she shielded Sora from the Professor. The Professor looked perplexed at Gabby as he knelt down with a bag in his hand.

"Oh, don't mind me," he said. "I'm just going to check your companion's temperature."

Gabby bared her teeth at the Professor. "Don't get any closer."

The Professor looked questioningly at Gabby as he reached into his bag. "I'm not going to harm him or anything. Ah, here we go!"

Gabby blinked as the Professor took out a glass thermometer. She looked over her shoulder at Sora and then back at the Professor. She held out her hand to him.

"Give it to me…please," she said.

The Professor blinked owlishly. "You want it?"

Gabby nodded her head. "Ah."

* * *

(1) And by that, I mean in which both Gabby and Jane are _female_.

(2) Yeah, I know…Sora misses his parents. However, remember that in the games, Sora never talks about his family. So here, his family gets mentioned like every chapter or so, nowadays. Sorry if it gets repetitive, but think…Sora is thirteen and technically, he's still a child. He has an excuse to miss them…especially since he left his room without saying anything.

(3) Gah, this was very awkward for me to write down. Really…I never thought that writing out scenes from this movie would be this awkward for me. DX I was wrong…but hey! I had fun writing it! :D

(4) Now this…okay, let's have the OC explain it.

OC: "Tomboy authoress, KD, has girly hands."

According to my big sis, it's because I don't do a lot of work so my hands are rather…pretty. Eh, I dunno…never noticed until she compared her hands with mine and since then, I can't see my hands the same way again…

1-3-12 Okay, it took me this long to realize that part of my explanation got accidentally backspaced. So the explanation...is that this is a joke that KD thought of with how her big sis won't stop pointing out her girly hands when she has a chance... An example would be when her husband told me to open a bottle of beer for him with my manhands. Yeah...XD

(5) When **Hestic** was informed about the Deep Jungle extension, she asked me to give her the heads up on when I would get to a certain part so she can type up this scene. I may have tweaked it a bit since the original version had Sora still alone for the most part as he had yet to find Gabby…yeah…

Also, Sora and Gabby speaking Al Bhed was her idea…and now, it's pretty much a language you're going to have to be prepared to see in future chapters. Yeah…

(6) Again, **Hestic**…she helped me out with this part. This part, here, was influenced solely on what colors and jewelry is seen as sometimes. I know the color purple is what signifies royalty and nobility, but Gabby is wearing blue and the closest thing to purple is blue…still, it is a color that is hard to make, according to **Hestic**…this is what she told me in her PM:

**Hestic**: "In most cultures, blue and purple were the symbolic colors of royalty because it was hard and expensive to make the dye and color the clothing. It was easier for red because multiple plants could be used to make red dye. White was also used for princess because they didn't have to do much so they were able to keep it clean easier. Also, most warriors had some kind of symbol on their clothing that matched a piece of jewelry that their benefactor wore."

That last part pretty much explains why Sora had that silver heart on his back and there's a reason why we didn't see it earlier…Sora was wearing a hoodie… Yeah…Sora got classified as a Warrior, which isn't far from what he really is…

And Gabby was wearing more jewelry than Sora, if the Chaos Anklets count as jewelry. I would've also added another reason since I remembered Gabby had another trait…she has pale skin, something that was seen back than as a trait belonging to women of a high social status. I decided against it since…I just didn't want to push it.

Also, Sora getting sick stemmed from a comment from **Hestic** back before I even got this far in this revamp. She made a mention involving all the possible sicknesses that Sora and Gabby could catch. I wasn't going to bring it up… And then I settled for a fever because…really, Sora's gone through a lot of stress. He can only take it for oh so long before it finally got to him… yeah…

(7) I'm sorry guys, but I couldn't keep this one in…mostly because I already typed out a scene from the move and that musical number was gonna be a bitch, so yeah… Sorry! DX I really wanted to do it, but I had to make some sacrifices!

(8) You can see I was struggling a bit here. It's kinda hard to analyze a Disney movie, ya know…Well, at least for me since I'm a bit slow and it's because I BS my way through some things.

(9) This part right here was supposed to be funny and a bit of a shout out to chapter 19 of _Secret or Misconception_, but then it went awry when I remembered that it's not a laughing matter for Sora since he lost his parents. This is where this chapter starts to turn serious…

(10) As you can see, KD found a way to make this scene work. Told ya I would! ^^

OC: "She kept her word."

(11) Gabby broke down after hearing the word "Mom" or rather, "Mama", in this case. She misses her own mother, ya know. Think…the only person she has that she considers her mother isn't actually her mother, but her adoptive mother. What Gabby wanted was her _real_ mother…her birth mother. Think of the woman in her memory and connect that part with Gabby's cries of, "Mama"… Can you guess who that woman is?

OC: "Why don't you just tell them?"

I don't like saying things out right.

Anyways, the story might be labeled as humor/adventure, but remember…that doesn't necessarily mean it won't have its serious moments. I don't have much to say at the moment, but I will say that this chapter gave me a bit of trouble since I was used to writing out funny moments and where…well, the mood definitely changed! DX Sorry!  
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed the chapter…and you know the drill! NO FLAMES! Constructive Criticism is always welcomed and reviews are nice! :D Unless they are flames, then… :C

Also, this story has reached over fifty-two reviews in over the past two years it has existed…about some of them are left over back when this story was still in its…not as glorious glory…yeah…

Anyways, be patient for the next chapter! I hope I won't take long, till next time! KD out! XD


	14. Strangers Like Me

When she opened her eyes, Gabby felt warm. She blinked a few times, her blurry vision clearing. She felt drowsy…and her eyes stung a bit, but otherwise, she was fine. She yawned and rubbed her eye as she turned under the covers, snuggling up against something warm as she tried to get comfortable. It took her a few seconds to realize that something was off.

Gabby opened her eyes as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. When exactly did she fall asleep? Why did she feel so comfortable? And what was this red thing in front of—

"Huh?" she said.

Gabby blinked, her expression going blank when she realized she could hear a heartbeat that was not hers. She blinked again and looked up, narrowing her eyes when she realized that the red thing in front of her was none other than Sora. Sora was oblivious to what he was doing, which was basically treating Gabby like a stuffed animal a little kid would sleep with.

"Kairi…" he muttered in his sleep.

Gabby narrowed her eyes and pushed her hands against Sora's chest. "Sora, don't treat me like a substitute for my sister…let go…"

…

Sora rolled onto his back, still asleep. Gabby crawled away from Sora and looked up, placing her hand on her forehead. It had taken her a while to get out of Sora's grip…she had to _wait_ for _him_ to let go. Sighing, she shook her head and tried to recall what happened last night.

Gabby looked around and nodded. "That's right…we're with them."

They were still at the campsite with Jane, her father, and Clayton… Gabby made a face when she remembered Clayton. She didn't get along with him… She didn't know exactly why, but she felt there was something…she shook her head again and looked at Sora. She sighed once more, face-palming afterwards.

"_What am I going to do with you?"_ she thought to herself.

…

* * *

…

The sun was shining and the sky was clear. It was a beautiful day and Jane was currently drawing on a blackboard whilst talking with her father. She was talking about yesterday's encounter with Tarzan.

"Well, he didn't stand upright," she explained. "He sort of crouched, like that. And he supported his weight on his knuckles."

"On the knuckles!" the Professor mused.

"Exactly like a gorilla!" Jane said excitedly.

"Extraordinary!" exclaimed the Professor.

"Oh, it was amazing!" Jane said as she explained, giving a demonstration along with her explanation. "He'd bend his elbows out, like this, and then he walks, like this."

"Oh, I see!" the Professor said as he got down and walked like a gorilla. "Just like Aunt Isabelle!"

Jane and the Professor laughed as they both walked around like a gorilla. Clayton was shaving, using his machete's blade like a razor. He saw Jane and the Professor's reflection in the mirror he was using. Clayton was not amused…

…

The Professor sat on his knees and clasped his hands. "This is capital! Oh, Janey Jane, what a discovery! A man with no language, no human behavior—"

"And no respect for personal boundaries!" Jane added.

The Professor looked at his daughter perplexed. "How do you mean?"

Jane literally got in her father's face. "He was this close, Daddy, staring at me!"

Jane diverted her eyes away from her father and turned to the blackboard. She grabbed the piece of chalk and began to add the missing parts of her drawing of Tarzan…his face.

"He seemed confused at first, as if he'd never seen another human before," she explained. "His eyes were intense and focused and…I've never seen such eyes."

The Professor looked at his daughter's expression and then at the blackboard. "Oh, shall I leave you and the blackboard alone for a moment?"

Jane laughed as her father chuckled. "Daddy, stop it! The point is, think of what we could learn from him. We must find him."

Clayton was wiping off the shaving cream on his face with a blue towel when he heard Jane. He huffed and threw the blue towel onto the ground. He turned and walked over to the father and daughter duo.

"Oh, Professor!" he said, somewhat angrily. He smiled as he placed his hands on the Professor's shoulders. "You're here to find gorillas, not indulge some girlish fantasy."

Jane scowled at Clayton. "Fantasy?"

Clayton walked away from Jane, his attention focusing on the girl exiting her tent. "We already have a possible lead to the gorillas…it seems the native princess woke up."

Jane looked sternly at Clayton. "Mister Clayton, let her be…she's just a child."

"She knows something we don't know," said Clayton. "That's all that matters."

…

Gabby looked around, her gaze falling upon Clayton. She scowled at him and stuck her tongue out at him. Clayton just narrowed his eyes at her and made his way over to her.

"Young lady…we have a few questions to ask you," he said.

Gabby clenched her fist and held it up. "Mayja sa ymuha!"

"Mister Clayton, I don't think you should approach her that way," Jane said. "You said so before, she is capable of taking a man like you down."

Clayton laughed and stopped once he reached Gabby's side. Ignoring her angry expression, Clayton placed his hand on her shoulder.

"She won't catch me off guard this time," he assured. "Now, little girl—"

Clayton felt the wind knocked out of himself as Gabby's fist landed a direct blow into his stomach. (1)

"Dryd'c vih-cewat!" she exclaimed.

Clayton wheezed a bit, trying to regain his lost oxygen. Afterwards, he looked at Gabby, enraged. Gabby crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"Dryd fyc vun drnaydahehk ic ihtan kihbuehd!" she remarked.

"Why you little savage!" Clayton scowled at Gabby and promptly lifted her off the ground by the back of her shirt.

Gabby exclaimed and flailed her arms about in the air. "Bid sa tufh!"

Clayton smiled in satisfaction. "Not so tough now, are we?"

"Mister Clayton!" Jane said sternly. "That is no way to treat a young lady!"

Clayton looked incredulously at Jane. "Lady? She is far from being a lady! This…'lady', attacked me!"

Jane crossed her arms. "You provoked her and I warned you… Now put her down."

Clayton muttered angrily as he set Gabby down. Gabby adjusted her shirt a bit before turning to Clayton. She looked at him with a smile on her face, earning a perplexed look from the older man. Then, she promptly kicked him in the leg and dashed away from him as he clutched his leg.

Jane looked at Gabby as the younger girl hid behind her. Jane diverted her gaze as she watched Clayton walk over to them. Clayton was furious. Never before in his life had he ever been bested by a little girl! It was quite demeaning!

"Jane, move out of the way," said Clayton. "That girl is dangerous."

Jane didn't move one bit. She just placed her hand on top of Gabby's head as the younger girl peered out from behind her.

"Mister Clayton, if you want to get to her…" said Jane. "Then you'll have to go through me."

Clayton was baffled. "W-What?"

"You heard me," Jane said, smiling. "Now be a good sport and let her be…"

Clayton looked at Jane and then at Gabby, scowling when he saw her stick her tongue out at him. He shook his head and walked away from the two. He didn't have time for this…

"Very well," he said. _"Women…"_

Jane smiled and looked at Gabby. "Hello again…did you sleep well?"

Gabby nodded her head, earning a delighted exclamation from the Professor.

"Ah, so she also understands English!" said the Professor. "Ahem…Allow me to introduce myself! Archimedes Q. Porter at your service!"

Gabby stared at the Professor as he held out her hand to her. Blinking, she smiled and grabbed his hand as she proceeded to shake hands with him. The Professor looked thoughtfully at her as she shook his hand.

"Yes…yes…" he said. "Jane…do you think she might know Tarzan?"

Gabby's eyes widened as she suddenly blurted out, "Tarzan!"

The Professor blinked and looked at the drawing of Tarzan for a few moments. He then diverted his attention to Gabby. After a few seconds, he brought his fist down into the palm of his hand.

"He must be part of their tribe!" exclaimed the Professor.

Gabby looked questioningly at the Professor. "Fryd?"

The Professor nodded. "I would say as tribe members get older, they wear less so they can fight easier and blend in more…" (2)

Jane looked at Gabby. "It does make sense…but Tarzan spoke in a language different from hers."

Clayton, having overheard just about everything, scowled. He was getting tired about the discussion involving Tarzan. Even the native fell for it… "I'm surrounded by people deluded by a girlish fantasy…"

Jane glared at Clayton. "I did not imagine him! Tarzan is…"

Jane trailed off as the same man whom had saved her yesterday, suddenly dropped down in front of her. Tarzan smiled as he looked up at Jane. Clayton stared agape at Tarzan, baffled with the young man's sudden appearance.

Jane smiled and gestured at Tarzan. "Real…"

The Professor sputtered as he looked at Tarzan. "Ah, it's him!"

Tarzan smiled and walked up to Jane, only for her father to get in the way between them. The Professor stammered as he looked at Jane and then at Tarzan. Tarzan backed away from the Professor a bit, his eyes focused on the bumbling older man. There was something on the Professor that intrigued Tarzan, but he couldn't exactly get to it as the Professor was moving about.

"It's, it's Tarzan!" the Professor managed to say.

The Professor stopped moving as Tarzan lightly grasped his mustache. Clayton, having recovered from his shock, grabbed his shotgun and aimed it at Tarzan, his finger on the trigger.

"Professor, Jane, stand back!" he exclaimed.

The Professor diverted his eyes on Clayton. "Wait!"

Jane's eyes widened. "No!"

BANG!

Jane had her eyes closed and her hands over her ears to block out the loud noise. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Tarzan. She sighed in relief when she saw he was all right. She then turned to Clayton, her eyes widening when she saw the young girl in possession of Clayton's shotgun.

"Clayton!" said Tarzan.

Everyone's attention then focused on Tarzan. Tarzan smiled and turned to face the Professor as he stared at him.

"Clayton!" he said again.

The Professor placed his hands on his cheeks and laughed. The man could speak English, too! Clayton looked perplexed at Tarzan and walked over to him. Tarzan looked curiously at Clayton as he looked down at him.

"Have we met?" asked Clayton. "How does he know my name?"

Jane laughed as she explained, "He thinks it means the sound of a gunshot."

Tarzan walked away from Clayton and over to Jane. He stood up on his two feet and looked closely at Jane.

"Jane," he said, lifting up a lock of her brown hair.

Jane looked nervously at Tarzan as he smiled at her. "Yes, hello, um, Tarzan."

The Professor laughed. "I see what you mean about those personal boundaries!"

…

Clayton looked perplexed at Tarzan as the younger man stared at him. Tarzan stood on his two feet and walked around Clayton, observing the other man's posture.

"What is he doing?" asked Clayton.

Tarzan stared at Clayton as he positioned himself in a similar posture. Tarzan even managed to pull off the same expression. Jane had her hand over her mouth as she laughed.

"Look at him, Jane," the Professor said before walking over to Tarzan. "Moves like an ape but looks like a man. He could be the missing link."

Clayton's eyes widened in realization. He smiled and patted the Professor on the head before bringing the Professor closer to him.

"Or our link to the gorillas," Clayton remarked.

The Professor blinked. "Ah, yes."

…

Gabby sat on a lone barrel and looked at the scene before her. Once again, she had gone ignored…she didn't mind. She just wondered if she should take the chance to leave camp with Sora…

"_I wonder if he's okay, though…"_ she thought, her gaze diverting onto the shotgun in her hands. _"What do I do with this?"_

…

Tarzan looked around for Gabby. He saw her earlier, but Jane kept him occupied, as did her companions. His gaze fell upon a short-statured girl with long, brown hair and a shotgun in her arms. She sat on a barrel and looked absolutely bored. Tarzan smiled and walked over to her.

"Gabby!" exclaimed Tarzan.

…

Gabby blinked and looked up, smiling when she saw Tarzan. "Oh, hey, Tarzan…"

Tarzan stopped in front of Gabby and looked around. "Sora."

Gabby rubbed the back of her head. "Well…he's over there."

Tarzan blinked as Gabby directed him to a nearby tent. "Find friends?"

Gabby sighed and shook her head. "Nothing, yet…"

"So you can speak English!" said a voice.

Gabby's eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hands. _"Crap!"_

Tarzan looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Jane!"

Jane stood behind Tarzan with her arms crossed and a grin on her face. She looked at Gabby, amused with her discovery. Luckily, for Gabby, it was just Jane who knew of this. The Professor and Clayton were currently talking to each other, most likely about Tarzan.

"So…your name is Gabby?" asked Jane.

Gabby removed her hands from her mouth and sighed. She rubbed the back of her head and looked at the tent. Sora still hadn't woken up…

"_Might as well,"_ she thought. "Yes, my name is Gabby…nice to meet you, Jane."

Jane smiled. "The pleasure is mine…so, would care to explain your connection to Tarzan?"

"He's kinda my…teacher," she replied.

Tarzan had been like a teacher of some sort to Sora and Gabby. He taught them how to wrestle gorillas, how to climb up a waterfall, how to tree-surf, and how to avoid Sabor. The last one was something they needed to work on…

"So, what's your friend's name?" asked Jane.

Gabby blinked. "His name is Sora…"

"Sora?" repeated Jane.

Gabby nodded. "Yeah…it means 'sky'."

Jane smiled. "Well, that's a nice name… You seem to know Sora more than Tarzan."

"That's because me and Sora are childhood friends," Gabby explained. "We've known each other since we were just five years old."

"And Tarzan?" asked Jane.

Gabby rubbed the back of her head. "Truth be told, I have only known him for a week…Sora's known Tarzan for two weeks."

"I see…" said Jane.

"So the native princess can speak," said a voice.

Gabby blinked and narrowed her eyes as saw Clayton walk up. "Clayton…"

"You have something of mine…" said Clayton. "May I have it back?"

Gabby looked at the shotgun in her arms. "Why should I give it back?"

Clayton wasn't amused. "Look, young lady…that is not a toy. Give it to me and maybe I'll give you a real toy…what do you say about a nice doll?"

Gabby looked blankly at Clayton. "Dude…I'm not stupid. I know very well what I am holding… It's a double-barreled elephant rifle. Capable of shooting two shots before ammunition needs to be reloaded…" (3)

Clayton stared at Gabby agape. "How…did you know that?"

"I lived with a gunner for nearly nine years," replied Gabby. "You tend to pick up things when you help a gunner out with their weapons…also, I hate dolls. I like swords and sharp projectiles like shuriken and throwing knives, though…"

Clayton was stunned, as was Jane. Tarzan didn't know any better since his knowledge of the English language left him out in the dark. He was currently looking around for Sora.

"What's going on?" asked the Professor.

Gabby placed her hand on her forehead and sighed. "I'm really getting tired of this…"

"Oh, you can speak English!" exclaimed the Professor.

Gabby whimpered as tears streamed down her cheeks in a comedic fashion. "I'm just looking for my friends…"

…

…

Clayton walked over to Tarzan after recovering from his astonishment and regaining his shotgun from Gabby. Tarzan blinked and looked at Clayton as the older man walked up to him.

"Where are the gorillas?" asked Clayton.

Tarzan smiled and grabbed Clayton's mustache. He pulled on it, wondering if it would come off. Clayton scowled and pushed Tarzan off of himself.

"GO-RIL-LAS!" shouted Clayton.

Tarzan blinked and smiled as he stood up. He puffed up his chest and walked up to Clayton, shouting, "GO-RIL-LAS!"

Clayton backed away from Tarzan and now stood in front of the Professor, Jane, and Gabby. Jane looked at Clayton and sighed.

"Shouting won't help, Mister Clayton," she explained. "He doesn't understand English."

Gabby held up her index finger. "Actually, he does, but not much…"

Clayton grinned and made his way over to the blackboard. "Well then I'll make him understand."

Tarzan looked at Clayton and followed after him. Clayton picked up a piece of chalk and used his arm to erase the drawing on the blackboard.

"If I can teach a parrot to sing 'God Save the Queen', I can certainly teach this savage a thing or two," Clayton said before drawing a rather crude picture of a gorilla.

Clayton smiled and held out his hand as he directed Tarzan's attention at the blackboard. "Gorilla."

Tarzan looked at the blackboard curiously before shifting his attention to the piece of chalk in Clayton's hand. Tarzan took the piece of chalk and looked it over.

"Gorilla," Tarzan repeated.

The Professor laughed and grabbed onto Jane's arm. "He's got it!"

Gabby looked at Tarzan and shook her head. "Don't get your hopes up…"

Tarzan climbed onto the blackboard and used the chalk to draw a single line. "Gorilla."

The line turned into a full on scribble as Tarzan repeated, "Gorilla."

The Professor looked down. "Oh, perhaps not…"

"Repeating and understanding a word are two different things," said Gabby. "Tarzan was repeating a word."

The Professor looked at Gabby. "Does he do this a lot?"

Gabby shrugged. "I'm not sure…Sora might know, though."

"What's going on?" asked a somewhat drowsy voice.

Gabby blinked and turned to the tent. "Speak of the devil…Sora!"

Sora emerged from Jane's tent. He stretched out his arms as he yawned loudly. He rubbed his eye afterwards as he looked around the campsite. He stopped and blinked a few times. He looked confused…

"We're at the campsite," explained Gabby. "You had a fever and they took us here…by the way, does Tarzan tend to repeat words?"

Sora blinked and nodded. "Yeah, he repeats words…but if you explain it in a way he understands it, then he'll learn that word. What's going on?"

Gabby directed Sora at Tarzan and Clayton. Sora blinked and sweat dropped as he watched the scene before him.

Clayton snatched the chalk out of Tarzan's hand. "No, no, no, no!"

Tarzan looked at the chalk in Clayton's hand and snatched it back. He then did what Clayton had done and repeated, "No, no, no, no!"

Clayton grabbed Tarzan's wrist with one hand and used his other hand to take the chalk away from Tarzan. Tarzan reacted to this by trying his hardest to take back the piece of chalk. Clayton didn't let him.

"No, no, no!" Clayton said as he struggled to keep Tarzan away.

Jane walked up to the two and snatched the chalk out of Clayton's hand. Tarzan and Clayton ceased their fighting and focused their attention on Jane.

"Mister Clayton," Jane said, crossing her arms. "I think I'll take it from here."

Sora looked at Gabby. "What just happened?"

Gabby shrugged. "I don't know…"

…

* * *

…

Donald and Goofy had ended up in a clearing among the bamboo thicket. They were resting on a large, moss-covered rock. Goofy sat on top of it, his eyes lowered to the surface of the rock, and Donald sat right next to him, his gaze focused on the tattered hoodie in his hands.

"This is all my fault…" Donald lamented, sighing.

Goofy frowned as he diverted his eyes on Donald. "Aww, don't be too hard on yourself, Donald… I'm sure Sora's okay…"

Donald looked at Goofy. "What if he isn't?"

Goofy rubbed the back of his head. He looked away from Donald and sighed. He didn't know what to say…

Jiminy popped out of Goofy's hat and looked at the two. He shook his head and hopped down onto Goofy's shoulder.

"Hey, fellas," said Jiminy. "Moping won't get us anywhere!"

Donald and Goofy looked at Jiminy. "Huh?"

"So what if it is all Donald's fault?" asked Jiminy.

Donald blinked and narrowed his eyes. "Hey!"

Jiminy ignored Donald and continued on. "Sitting around here like this and blaming yourself won't do anything! And Sora isn't the only one that's missing…what about Gabby?"

Goofy blinked. "Gabby…?"

"She could be around in the jungle, alone…hurt, even," said Jiminy. "Or maybe she isn't alone…maybe she's with Sora! Maybe Sora's still alive and he just lost his hoodie!"

Donald arched his brow at Jiminy. "How do you know?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Jiminy. "That's why we can't just sit around! We have to go find out ourselves! Ya get me?"

…

Goofy nodded and looked at Donald. "Jiminy's right! We can't just sit around like this! Sora and Gabby are out there, looking for us!"

Donald looked at the hoodie in his possession, his expression turning serious. Goofy and Jiminy were right…

"Let's get moving!" Donald exclaimed before he started reaching for his staff, which he had set against the side of the rock, just behind himself. "They're nothing without…us? Huh?"

Donald blinked as his fingers came across something…furry. Perplexed, Donald turned to see what it was. He found himself face-to-face with a female gorilla with brown eyes and a crest of hair that fell over the top of her head. They stared at each other for a moment, their eyes widening seconds afterwards. They both screamed straight into each other's faces in panic.

…

Terk hadn't been expecting this. All she had been doing was following Tarzan, who disappeared mysteriously this morning. Though, she had a feeling where he might have gone. Along the way towards the campsite, she had come across something peculiar…and then something else! These three (yes, she saw the cricket)…they were much different from Tarzan, Sora, and Gabby…and that other one that Tarzan referred to as, "Jane".

Her curiosity overwhelmed her fear of the strangers. For her, she had to get a closer look at these three the moment she had spotted them… And that's pretty much how she found herself screaming back into the face of one of the strangers. It was quite…unsettling.

…

A sudden rustling in the foliage behind them caused Donald, as well as Goofy, to look back, away from the gorilla. The gorilla took this chance to escape and scurried off as fast as she could. She paused for a moment, looking over her shoulder at Donald, and then continued on her way. In her haste, she left behind a small item she had discovered earlier.

Donald looked back and saw that the gorilla had gone. However, that was the least of his concerns as something else caught his interest and it currently lied on the floor. It was a strange red block that glimmered in the sunlight.

Donald turned away as the rustling within the foliage grew louder. Jiminy crawled back under Goofy's hat, leaving Donald and Goofy alone to face whatever it was that was in the foliage. Donald and Goofy gulped audibly at the same time as they waited nervously to see the cause of all that rustling.

After a few moments, out stepped a tall man dressed in typical hunter attire with a shotgun in his possession. The man looked around, his gaze falling upon Donald and Goofy. He arched his brow as he looked at them, finding the two rather strange.

"What do we have here?" he asked.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other, exchanging nervous looks.

…

* * *

…

Meanwhile at the campsite, inside a tent,

Jane had her back to Sora, Gabby, and Tarzan as she set up the projector. As she did this, she took the time to talk to Sora and Gabby.

"So you aren't from the Deep Jungle…" said Jane.

Sora blinked. "Is that what this place is called?"

Jane looked at Sora and nodded. "Yes…so how did you two managed to get here?"

"Two weeks ago, we got separated from our friends," replied Gabby. "It's very easy to get lost in this jungle and for the first week of my stay…I was alone."

"And then I found you after that first week," Sora continued on for Gabby. "You almost drowned and I could have lost you."

Gabby smiled and jumped onto Sora's back, her arms looped around his neck.

"But you didn't!" she chirped. "I'm still alive! Still alive~!" (4)

Sora crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Don't push it…and please get off me, you're rather heavy…"

BONK!

Sora yelped and clutched his head as Gabby jumped off his back. Gabby glared at Sora, her right hand tightened into a fist. She had just bonked Sora over the head.

"I am not fat!" she remarked.

Sora looked at Gabby with one eye opened. "I never said you were…gah, that hurt…"

Jane looked at the two children, intrigued with their behavior. "Are you two always like this?"

"Sorta…" Sora replied. "Anyways, in total, we've been living in the jungle for two weeks…"

Jane placed her hand over her mouth. "Oh, my…I'm sure your parents must be worried about you two. You must miss them terribly…"

Sora frowned and looked down. "About that…I really don't know where my parents are… We lost our home around two weeks ago…"

Gabby nodded. "Yeah…we've only managed to find a few of our friends, but nothing else."

Jane sighed. "Oh, well I'm sorry…I didn't mean to bring up such a touchy subject."

Sora shook his head. "No, that's okay…I mean, if we managed to find some of our friends, then my parents could be somewhere out there."

Jane smiled. "You're rather mature for your age…how old are you two, by the way?"

Sora blinked. "Huh…? Oh, we're thirteen years old."

"We're turning fourteen in a few months!" Gabby added.

Jane looked at Sora and Gabby, stunned. They appeared much younger than they seemed, Gabby especially. She shook her head and turned her attention to Tarzan.

"Do you think you could tell me more about Tarzan?" she asked. "Anything you know about him…"

"Well, after living with him for two weeks…" Sora began. "I came to the conclusion that he was raised by gorillas… By the way, you asked us why we're here in the jungle…what about you?"

"Well, my father and I, along with Mister Clayton, are here on an expedition to study gorillas," Jane explained. "What I never expected for us to find…is you two and Tarzan."

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, we're rather unexpected…"

"How long do you suppose it'll take you to teach Tarzan, English?" asked Gabby.

Jane shrugged. "I don't know…I suppose a year at the most…"

"How long is your expedition supposed to last?" Sora asked. "Just out of curiosity…"

Jane sighed and went back to tinkering with the projector. "The most the captain had given us is a year…though, every little day counts. It could take us quite a long time to find the gorillas… One month already and the most we have discovered are discarded nesting grounds…and you three." (5)

Sora laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. "I see…"

"We could help you out with the gorillas," Gabby suggested.

Jane looked at Gabby, her expression brightened. "Really?"

Gabby nodded her head. "Yeah, except…I'd rather let Tarzan help you. He's lived with the gorillas for practically his whole life. He's one of them!"

Jane sighed. "Oh…"

Gabby crossed her arms and let out a puff of air. "Besides…I don't know where the gorillas are anymore. Yesterday was our last day with them since me and Sora spent the night on this campsite…away from the gorillas."

Jane nodded her head. "I see…well, I'm sorry for all the trouble Mister Clayton's put you two through… Though, you didn't have to attack him."

Gabby let out another puff of air. "I've been taught to act when threatened."

"Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" asked Jane.

Gabby frowned and looked down. "They're not really my parents…"

"Oh…I see," said Jane. "Well…can you tell me about your friends?"

Sora crossed his arms. "Well, one of our friends is Gabby's twin sister, Kairi…she looks almost like her, except she has short, red hair and violet-blue eyes."

Jane looked at Gabby. "You're a twin? How curious…"

Gabby nodded. "Yeah…and then there's Riku… He's the oldest out of the four of us…he's turning fifteen next month. He's about this tall, has long, silver hair, and aqua-colored eyes."

Jane arched her brow at Gabby. "Silver hair?"

"He got it from his father," explained Sora. "Anyways, Tarzan told me he knows where they are…right, Tarzan?"

Tarzan looked at Sora. "Friends…here…"

Sora nodded. "He also said another word, but I couldn't understand it…not even after two weeks."

"So you can communicate with the gorillas?" asked Jane.

Sora crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. "Somewhat…but not much…I just know enough to keep up a small conversation with Tarzan."

Jane looked at Gabby. "And what about you?"

"I…nothing," Gabby admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm still learning…I can only make out a few words enough to get the gist of the conversation…and that's about half the time."

"Hey, it's something," remarked Sora. "That's more what I knew after my first week with Tarzan."

"Yet you still know more," Gabby said, looking down.

Sora sighed and diverted his gaze on the projector. "So Jane…how are we going to communicate with Tarzan?"

Jane smiled and gestured at the projector. "We'll use this…my father is looking for the slides. I'm sure they'll help."

"You would never guess what I found lurking in the jungle," a voice suddenly spoke.

Sora, Gabby, Tarzan, and Jane turned, their attention focused on the tent's entrance. The first who entered the tent was Clayton. Following after him, was a dog and a duck…both of whom Sora and Gabby immediately recognized.

Goofy was the first to react upon seeing the two children. "Sora! Gabby!"

Gabby ran up to Goofy and embraced the Captain of the Royal Guard. Donald stared at Sora with wide eyes, dropping the hoodie in his hands in surprise. What were the chances that everything Jiminy had told Donald and Goofy were true? From what Donald had just discovered…it was very likely. Donald ran towards Sora, smiling.

"Goofy!" Sora exclaimed as he ran up to Donald. "Donald!"

Donald and Sora looked at each other as they held hands. They were about to embrace each other when, suddenly, they remembered how exactly they ended up in this world. Donald's relief and happiness were clouded by anger and dislike. Immediately after, Sora and Donald turned away from each other, their arms crossed.

Gabby and Goofy looked at their friends, having expected them to make up. Instead, all they got was a sign that the two were still mad at each other. Gabby and Goofy looked at each other and sighed. Everything seemed to have been going so well…

Clayton took one look at the strange group and turned, making his way out of the tent. "A circus of clowns… Not much use for hunting gorillas."

Jane looked sternly at Clayton and placed her hands on her hips. "Mister Clayton, we're studying them, not hunting them. This is research!"

Clayton glanced over his shoulder for a moment. He shrugged nonchalantly, and continued to walk away. Jane closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself. After a moment, she turned back to Sora and the others, putting on her best smile.

"Well, the more the merrier," she said lightly. "Do make yourselves at home. Though, I do wonder what is taking Daddy long and—I say, who are you two?"

Donald and Goofy blinked as Jane looked at them curiously. Jane was astounded to see such peculiar people…a talking dog and duck…who would have thought it? Tarzan walked up to the two anthropomorphic animals and looked them over.

"Sora…friend?" he asked.

Goofy blinked and smiled as he nodded. "Ah-hyuck! That's right!"

Donald closed his eyes and huffed. "Leave me out of this."

Goofy looked at Donald and frowned. "Aww, c'mon, Donald…aren't ya glad Sora's okay? You were so worried when you found his hoodie…"

Sora perked up and turned to Goofy. "You know where my hoodie is?"

Goofy nodded and walked over to the discarded hoodie on the ground. He picked it up and walked over to Sora, handing it over to him.

"You gave us quite a worry when we thought you were…" Goofy trailed off as he looked at Donald, whom had just cleared his throat.

Sora looked at Goofy as he put on his hoodie. "You thought I was dead?"

"Donald did!" corrected Goofy. "And he was so worried…I almost thought you were gone, too, but here you are!"

Donald huffed again. "I did not!"

Goofy sighed and looked at Sora. "So what happened that day?"

"We got chased by a leopard!" Gabby said rather cheerfully. "I used Sora's hoodie as a distraction and when we lost the leopard, we came back for Sora's hoodie, only…it was gone."

Jane was stunned. "You were chased by a leopard?"

"Sabor, danger…" said Tarzan.

Sora nodded his head. "Yeah, that leopard is dangerous…and annoying. That thing stalked me!"

"And attacked you!" added Gabby. "She really hates you…"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "That's cuz I whacked her over the head with a key-like sword, Gabby…"

"Why didn't you use fire?" asked Gabby. "I mean, fire bad…"

Sora narrowed his eyes at Gabby. "Fire bad indeed…we're in a jungle. You do the math…"

Gabby blinked a few times. "Oh…anyways, this is Donald Duck…and he's Goofy Goof."

Jane could tell who Donald was by the telltale surname, which made the dog, Goofy Goof…

"_What a peculiar name…"_ she thought. "I'm Jane Porter."

Tarzan looked at Donald. "Friend…?"

Donald blinked as he looked at Tarzan. "Ha?"

Gabby sighed and walked over to Donald. She then promptly picked up the duck and gently squeezed him.

"Donald," she said slowly.

"Waak!" exclaimed Donald.

Tarzan nodded. "Donald."

Goofy looked curiously at Tarzan. "Who is he?"

Gabby dropped Donald onto the ground and walked over to Goofy. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gestured at him.

"Goofy," she said slowly.

Tarzan nodded. "Goofy!"

Gabby smiled and nodded her head. "Okay! Just watch…"

Tarzan patted his chest as he introduced himself. "Tarzan…Tar-zan."

"Tarzan?" repeated Goofy.

Tarzan smiled and made a gorilla-like sound in response. Goofy blinked and smiled.

"Nice to meetcha, Tarzan!" exclaimed Goofy.

"Nice to meetcha…" repeated Tarzan.

Goofy blinked again and looked at Gabby. "Is something wrong?"

"He doesn't understand English," explained Gabby. "That is why we're gonna teach him…"

It was at that moment, the Professor walked into the tent. He held a few slides in his hand.

"Jane, I found the slides and—oh, my!" he said.

The Professor looked at the two strange newcomers. Gabby took one look at the Professor and sighed in dismay.

"Not this again!" she whined.

Sora placed his hand on his forehead. "I'll do it this time…"

One explanation and set of introductions later,

"And now to show Tarzan those slides!" exclaimed Gabby. "Please? Tell me we're doing that!"

Gabby was really getting tired of all these explanations…even though Sora took to doing that, now that he was the one getting asked questions by the Professor. Gabby just about sighed in relief when Jane nodded her head and walked over to the projector. She now held the slides her father found… After lighting the kerosene lamp within the projector, Jane slid in the first slide.

An image of a grand castle was casted onto the blank canvas wall in front of the projector. The castle had some buildings that looked a bit like a clock, though it added some charm to the castle's unique look. Overall, the castle was majestically beautiful.

Sora felt his heart beat a little faster as he stared at the image. It seemed so…familiar…why? His breath caught in his throat, making a small noise. Goofy looked at Sora, concerned.

"What's wrong, Sora?" he asked.

"What?" Sora snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Goofy. "Um…nothing."

"That's strange," said Jane. "I don't remember this slide…Daddy?"

The Professor looked just as confused as his daughter. "I don't either…I must have overlooked this one."

…

Sora focused his gaze back on the image, tilting his head to the side in question. It was strange…

"_This place…"_ he thought. _"It just looks so familiar…but how? I've never been off my island."_

Until now, but that didn't count just yet. Sure, maybe Sora would encounter a castle later in his adventure, but not now, since he was stuck in the jungle with his friends, excluding one loudmouthed duck he disliked. Donald was not a friend…he was an acquaintance and yes, there was a difference.

Sora was too busy thinking of the familiarity of the image that he didn't notice the look on Gabby's face. Gabby stared at the image of the castle, her heart beating faster as she did. She found the image familiar…but where?

"Gah!" she yelped, clutching her head.

Gabby clenched her teeth as her head began to throb painfully. It was happening again… She was remembering a lost memory. Various memories flooded her head, just like the other times in which she tried remembering. It was painful, but not as painful as the memory of the woman who looked like herself and Kairi. The pain was much more…tolerable, at the least, but at the most, it came in second right after the memory in pain.

Gabby closed her eyes and fell onto the ground on her knees. _"Just endure it…it'll be over soon…endure it…endure it…"_

Her eyes snapped open as the memory flashed, giving her a mental image of the same castle that was projected onto the canvas wall. However, unlike the projection, the memory gave her an image in color. The castle's coloring consisted of shades of pink, white and silver, some brown, and maybe some purple. The color gave the castle even more beauty and life to it.

What followed after the mental image was another memory that played out like a video. Gabby could see a little girl picking flowers in a meadow full of copious amounts of flowers, each of them in full bloom. The memory jumped a bit, moving over to a different setting. This time, the little girl wasn't picking any flowers, but was running up a set of steps with a bundle of flowers in her hands. She was laughing.

It took Gabby a few seconds to realize that what she was seeing was through the eyes of another, or rather…herself. She was following after the little girl whom, upon closer look, had dark red hair. The little girl looked over her shoulder quickly, her violet-blue eyes filled with bubbly excitement.

The little girl was none other than a younger Kairi. Kairi continued up until she reached the top of the steps, where she then ran onto a long pathway leading towards a castle, the same one from the mental image. Before Gabby could see what happened next, a hand touched her shoulder, snapping her out of her recollection. Gabby looked left and saw that Sora was looking down at her, concerned.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Gabby blinked and placed her hand on her forehead. "Y-Yeah…just another headache…"

"Are you sure?" asked Sora.

Gabby nodded. "I'm sure…you can go onto the next slide, ya know."

Jane blinked and nodded as she switched out the slide with another one. The next slide projected an image of a young woman looking over her shoulder at a young man just next to her. The young man stood on one knee and held out a bouquet of flowers to the young woman, most likely as a token of his affection.

The next slide that came after was of an old lady crouched on the floor. The old lady raised an infant into the air, just in front of her. A cane was set on the floor at the side of the old lady. The scene was rather heartwarming.

The fourth slide was of a ship, nothing out of the ordinary. The fifth slide was of two men fencing, once again, nothing out of the ordinary. The sixth slide was of a gorilla. This earned a reaction out of Tarzan this time. He walked over to the canvas and placed his hand on it, touching the image. He turned to Jane, smiling. Jane smiled back at Tarzan and turned off the projector.

"Well, Tarzan?" she asked.

Tarzan looked at Jane, then at the projector, and then at the blank canvas wall. Everyone turned to Tarzan expectantly. Sora bit down on his lower lip, taking a step closer.

"Where are my friends, _Riku_ and _Kairi_?" he prompted, speaking slowly.

Tarzan looked over at Sora, their eyes meeting for a moment. He then dropped his gaze and shook his head slowly.

Sora frowned. "Hey, I thought—"

"Sora…maybe Tarzan doesn't understand just yet," Gabby said, interrupting Sora. "I mean, we've only shown him six slides…I don't think that's enough to get a reaction out of him."

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "True…"

Gabby nodded and looked at Jane. "Do you have any more slides?"

"I believe we do," Jane said turning to her father. "Daddy, where are the rest of the slides?"

The Professor scratched his head thoughtfully. "I'm sorry to say, but I don't know… Those six were the only ones I was able to find."

"We can look for them!" Sora blurted. "I mean, it won't be that hard, right? It shouldn't take more than an hour."

Three hours later,

Gabby muttered angrily as she searched through what seemed to be the umpteenth box. "It won't be that hard, right? It shouldn't take more than hour…"

Sora narrowed his eyes as he dropped another box next to Goofy, who, like Gabby, was searching through a box. Donald was double-checking the boxes that had been already looked through, just in case. Jane and the Professor were helping out Donald.

"Shut it," Sora said darkly.

Sora really didn't want to hear it…

Two hours later,

Gabby sighed as she searched another box unenthusiastically. "Nothing…nothing…nothing…noth—hey, I found one!"

Everyone turned to Gabby as she held up a slide. Sora looked at the slide and practically cried tears of relief. Five hours…it took them five hours to find a slide…

"Please tell me there's more…" Sora practically begged.

Gabby looked down at the box and nodded. "Yeah, there's a lot more!"

Sora walked up to Gabby and hugged her. "Thank you…I would kiss you if you weren't engaged to the guy who happens to be my tormentor!"

Gabby blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes as she pushed Sora away. "Don't use me as a substitute for my sister, Sora…"

"Huh?" Sora said, blinking. "I meant that out of gratitude because, really…I was near my breaking point with these boxes. Besides, I was just saying that."

"Oh…" said Gabby. "Well, okay…"

The Professor looked perplexed. "I'm sorry, but did I hear that correctly? The young lady…she's engaged?"

Sora smiled nervously as he found himself being glared at by Gabby.

One explanation later,

"And so my friend is set until graduation," Sora finished. "After that, it's all up to her if the engagement works out."

The Professor nodded. "Fascinating! Your tribe's customs are quite intriguing."

Sora sweat dropped. "We're not from a tribe, we're from a—"

Sora trailed off as he saw Donald gesture at him to not finish that sentence. Donald then mouthed, "World order."

Sora shook his head and crossed his arms. "Well, I guess you could say we're from a tribe…"

"Though, if you hadn't explained your friend's engagement, I would've almost assumed you were her fiancé," the Professor admitted.

Sora blinked. "What? No…no…no way! She's just my friend!"

Nothing more than that, because if he did…oh, the conflicts that would occur between him and Seymour. Anyways, Sora just thought of Gabby as a friend…he barely even acknowledged her as a girl…as in a _girl_-girl.

"Besides, he likes my sister in that way, not me," Gabby said, causing Sora to blush.

Now that was a different subject! Him and Gabby…just friends…though, him and Kairi…he was hoping for something more, maybe, but wasn't willing to openly admit it. Nope, because he would not give Gabby the satisfaction of knowing she was right about his crush on Kairi—dammit!

"I don't like her in that way!" Sora sputtered. "I just think she's a great friend!"

Gabby rolled her eyes. "Riiight…"

Sora sighed and shook his head. "Let's…let's just get on with the slideshow…"

…

* * *

…

Jane flicked on the projector's kerosene lamp. Tarzan looked at the fire within the lamp curiously, moving away when Jane covered the lamp with the projector. Clayton joined in the group's slideshow, sitting down in one of the chairs set down around in the tent. The Professor sat right next to Clayton, followed by Donald and Goofy, who sat on a couple of boxes. Gabby and Sora sat on a trunk next to the projector.

The first slide was of a gorilla, to which Tarzan walked up to the image and touched it. Ever since the previous slideshow, Tarzan was curious about the images…and ever since he saw the image of the gorilla the first time, he wanted to get a closer look at the images and touch them.

_Whatever you do, I'll do it too_

_Show me everything and tell me how_

Tarzan looked at Jane, smiling. Jane smiled back and changed the slides. The image that appeared on the canvas was of a man. Tarzan looked at the man and quickly imitated the image. He stood in a similar position like the man in the image. The Professor chuckled and handed Jane another slide.

_It all means something_

_And yet nothing to me_

Tarzan stared in awe at the image of a jungle on the canvas. He reached out for it, backing away when the image suddenly changed into an image of a city. The image changed again, this time of a castle, but unlike the first castle from an earlier slide, this castle seemed more…fantasy-like.

The next slide was of a sphinx and the slide after that was of a man and a woman, dancing. Jane sighed and looked dreamily at the image.

_I can see there's so much to learn_

_It's all so close and yet so far_

Tarzan looked at the image, perplexed. He blinked, smiling when an idea popped up in mind. He turned and grabbed Jane's arm, pulling her towards him as tried to get her to follow his lead. He wanted to recreate the scene in the image.

The Professor laughed and clapped his hands at Jane and Tarzan. Clayton was not amused, but Donald and Goofy were. Sora laughed and looked at Gabby, an idea popping up in mind when he noticed how enthralled she was with the scene before her. She looked so focused…he couldn't resist.

Gabby let out an exclamation as Sora pulled her by the arm towards himself. Gabby blinked as Sora grabbed a hold of her other hand and tried to get her to follow his lead. He was trying to get her to dance…just like Tarzan tried with Jane.

_I see myself as people see me_

_Oh, I just know there's something bigger out there_

The next slide was of space, showing various other planets. Tarzan stopped dancing, his eyes widening in awe as he looked at the image. He had never seen anything like it…

…

The Professor had set out at night with his telescope, leading nearly the whole group (minus Clayton) towards a good area to observe the stars. Once he found a good spot, he set down the telescope on its tripod and adjusted its settings a bit. Afterwards, he stopped and looked up at the starry night sky, marveling the view just like the others.

_I wanna know, can you show me_

The Professor awed as a spectacle in the night sky caught his gaze. He turned to his telescope and looked through it, observing the sky for a few moments before finding what he was looking for. He turned to Tarzan and gestured at the younger man. Tarzan blinked and watched the Professor as he demonstrated how to use the telescope.

_I wanna know about these_

_Strangers like me_

Tarzan looked through the telescope, just like the Professor had showed him. What he saw was absolutely breathtaking. It was a comet, slowly moving across the sky. It was indescribable… Tarzan looked up at the night sky in awe as he could faintly see the same comet. He wondered how exactly the telescope did that.

_Tell me more, please show me_

_Something's familiar about these strangers like me_

…

Sora yawned as he entered the tent. He rubbed his eyes a few times, blinking when he noticed Jane teaching Tarzan the alphabet. It was a rather cute scene, especially with how Tarzan was taking to learning. It was a subject that Sora now found quite simple and quite hard to remember how difficult it was in his younger years. (6)

…

Tarzan was a fast learner as Jane discovered. It was barely the second day and already, he had memorized the alphabet. She decided to move onto the next thing to teach Tarzan, which was how to read. She searched through the shelves for that one simple book she needed. She opened the book she had just pulled down from the top shelf.

Jane smiled when she found out it was the book she was looking for. As she turned to leave, she paused, her gaze focusing on Sora and Gabby, who were with their friends.

Donald was instructing Gabby about some herbs, which were currently wrapped around Sora's arm. Sora had injured himself just a few minutes ago in his group encounter with Sabor. The leopardess just never knew when to quit!

Luckily, Sora's encounter with Sabor didn't leave him with a serious wound, just a little scrape, but Donald took this as an opportunity to use him as practice for Gabby to learn Cure. Donald was aware that Sora had already had his first lesson from Tarzan, but Sora had difficulty with his Magic reacting to the spell. Gabby, on the other hand, was being taught how to properly cast the spell. Tarzan was going to teach her, but then the events that happened two days ago happened and everything and Sora wasn't much help…

Gabby placed her hands on Sora's arm and closed her eyes. She concentrated as she tried to channel her Magic through the leaves. Sora kept his gaze focused on the leaves. He wanted to see whether or not Gabby fared better than he did with Cure Magic. She probably won't make a difference, seeing as her experience with Magic has shown him that she's a slow learner.

The leaves began to glow and Sora felt a cool, soothing sensation on his arm. The leaves glowed brighter and brighter until they suddenly disappeared, having just been absorbed by Gabby. Gabby inhaled slowly and exhaled, opening her eyes afterwards. She removed her hands from Sora's arm and, much to Sora's surprise, his wound had been healed.

There was no sign whatsoever of his scrape. Sora's assumption about Gabby and her experience with Magic had just been disproven. She mastered Cure rather quickly! Sora was used to mastering spells before Gabby, so he didn't know what to make of it.

"_Why can she use Cure and not me?"_ Sora sighed and shook his head. He shouldn't let it get to him…

…

Jane was perplexed with what she had just seen. The herbs had just disappeared and Sora's scrape had been healed… There was something peculiar about Sora's friends, but if anything, what she thought was strange, was most likely nothing out of the usually for Sora and his friends. She decided to put this oddity behind her and just accept it.

Later,

Jane's father was showing Sora and Gabby a zoetrope with images of a man on a penny-farthing bicycle, all of them nearly identical, save for small differences in position. The Professor then spun the zoetrope and the images formed into what seemed to be an animation of a man riding a bicycle. Sora and Gabby stared at the zoetrope in awe. (7)

…

_Every gesture, every move that she makes_

Tarzan was crouched on a small crate next to Jane, who sat on a chair. His gaze was focused on the pictures and words in the book Jane held open for him to see. Slowly, she read aloud to him, moving her finger along the words as she pronounced them. Tarzan looked at the words, seeing them currently as nothing more than a group of letters. As Jane continued to read, Tarzan began to gradually understand the meaning of the words.

_Makes me feel like never before_

…

_Why do I have_

Sora blinked as he spotted Gabby under the makeshift canopy just across from him. She was sitting on a stool, reading a book. There was a smile on her face as she continued reading the book. This intrigued Sora…just what was in that book that she found amusing?

_This growing need to be beside her_

Sora found out when he walked up to Gabby. She showed him the cover, bursting into laughter afterwards as Sora's expression was priceless. He was definitely not amused…Gabby had been reading _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_. If this was supposed to be a joke, then Sora found his friend's sense of humor tasteless… The last world they had visited just so happened to be Wonderland and for Sora, he _hated_ the whole entire scenario…

…

Jane walked into her tent, tired from another day's worth of teaching. The alphabet was one thing, but teaching Tarzan how to read was an entirely new concept. Tarzan made good progress, but he still had a long way to go. Jane stopped in her tracks as she spotted Sora and Gabby sitting on her bed.

_Ooo, these emotions I never knew_

Sora sat still as Gabby sketched a picture of her friend into Jane's sketchbook. She was bored and annoying Sora with pieces of literature centering on the last world they had visited (_Through the Looking Glass_ happened to be in the bookshelf as well, much to Sora's annoyance) could only entertain her for so long…said pieces of literature were stacked on the bedside table.

_Of some other world far beyond this place_

Sora found himself staring at Gabby, his gaze fixated on her focused expression. It had occurred to him that he wasn't quite used to seeing his friend this focused. He wondered how exactly the sketch of himself would come out…which led to him wondering about his friend's ability to draw.

_Beyond the trees, above the clouds_

Sora's eyes widened as he stared at the sketch of himself, impressed with the detail Gabby had managed to capture. Gabby smiled a bit proudly, wondering just exactly how long it would take for Sora to notice.

_I see before me a new horizon_

…It took exactly thirty seconds for Sora to notice that Gabby had made a second sketch. Sora stared blankly at the second sketch, dropping the sketchbook a few seconds afterwards. He was not amused… By now, Gabby was laughing so hard that she was crying. This annoyed Sora to no extent and caused him to tackle Gabby off the bed.

Jane was a bit surprised to see this behavior from Sora towards Gabby, but shrugged it off. She decided to look at Gabby's sketch, but not before taking a look at the books on her bedside table. She had no idea that Sora and Gabby were fans of Lewis Carroll…and that Gabby was an extremely skilled artist in drawing. (8)

_I wanna know, can you show me_

Jane wondered what exactly caused Sora to act this way towards Gabby. There was nothing wrong with the sketch…it was there that Jane noticed that there had been a second sketch Gabby had drawn. It was another sketch of Sora, though this time…Gabby made slight distinct changes to her friend's image. Sora was wearing a different outfit and wore glasses with circular lenses in the second sketch. He was also sporting a pair of rabbit ears on his head… Jane had a feeling that the rabbit ears were what set Sora off. These two…and their friends…just who exactly were they? (9)

_I wanna know about these strangers like me_

* * *

…

The next day,

…

* * *

_Tell me more, please show me_

Tarzan arrived to the campsite, looking around for Jane. He found her sitting down in front of a colorful bird perched on a branch. It had the most colorful plumage, primarily green in coloration, save for its yellow face and front and the red on the top of its head. She was drawing a picture of the bird in her sketchbook, the bird looking curiously at her. Jane blinked and smiled as she noticed Tarzan. She showed him her sketch, which was somewhat done.

_Something's familiar about these strangers like me_

Unfortunately, for Jane, the bird suddenly took flight, leaving her without a model for her drawing. Jane sighed in dismay and frowned, causing Tarzan to frown as well. He looked at Jane and then looked up, spotting something up in the distance.

…

_Come with me now to see my world_

Sora and Gabby curiously watched Tarzan climb up a vine whilst supporting Jane, whom was currently latched around his torso. The two decided to follow Tarzan and Jane, wondering what exactly Tarzan had in mind.

…

Tarzan and Jane were now at the top of a tree, sunlight streaming through some openings in leafy foliage. Tarzan smiled as he held Jane's hand and used his free hand to push away the leafy foliage, revealing a sight that had been hidden behind it. Jane stared in awe at the sight before her.

There were many colorful birds, similar to the one Jane had been drawing earlier, perched on branches in pairs, groups, or just alone. Pairs sometimes showed affection to each other while others just stared or preened their feathers.

_Where there's beauty beyond your dreams_

Tarzan found out very quickly that he and Jane were being watched…by none other than Sora and Gabby. He quickly discovered them hiding behind some foliage. Sora and Gabby smiled sheepishly as Tarzan and Jane stared at them. Jane seemed amused and Tarzan just smiled. He had been meaning to show Sora and Gabby this place.

Jane blinked and stayed still as she felt something light and feathery, perch itself on her shoulder. It was one of the birds.

_Can you feel the things I feel_

Tarzan smiled as he watched Jane, staying still as a few birds perched themselves on his shoulders and head. Jane laughed softly as more birds perched onto her outstretched arms. One of them landed right on top of her head, keeping a firm position there.

Sora narrowed his eyes as he found himself flocked by birds. A couple was perched on his head and others settled onto his arms. Gabby laughed as she watched Sora continued to get flocked by more birds. She tried to help him out by scaring a few of them away, but the birds decided to just move onto her arm instead.

_Right now, with you_

It was now Sora's turn to laugh as the birds on himself decided Gabby was a better perch. Gabby just stared at the birds, smiling. She didn't mind, actually…it gave her a better chance to look at the birds. They were beautiful…

Sora blinked as he realized he was staring at Gabby. He shook his head, blinking again when he realized that a bird had perched itself on top of his head. He looked up, finding himself face to face with a bird as it looked down at him. It titled its head to the side as it stared into Sora's blue eyes.

…

_Take my hand_

Jane placed her right hand in Tarzan's right hand as she looked down from the branch she sat on. She was nervous, especially since it was night and it was a long ways down. She and Tarzan held onto a vine with their left hands. Jane felt her heart begin to race. Tarzan wanted to show her how to swing from vines…

At least that was what Sora told her. Sora was currently swinging on a few vines himself, alongside Gabby. Jane watched them, somewhat entranced with their interactions. Swing from vines…it seemed both scary, yet exhilarating for Jane…

And it was as she found out it was exactly like that when Tarzan suddenly jumped off the branch as he held onto the vine, taking Jane along with him. Jane held onto the vine and moved onto the next vine Tarzan helped her grab onto. He immediately moved onto a different vine and watched Jane, whom, without Tarzan, curled up into a small ball as she clutched onto the vine tightly.

_There's a world I need to know_

Jane was scared…but then she opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. The jungle at night was just beautiful. It was quiet and peaceful, with the occasional animal cries and such echoing throughout the jungle. She loosened up and started to freely swing around.

Sora and Gabby watched Jane and smiled. She was just like them when they were learning how to swing on vines. Scared at first, but then thrilled.

…

…

Tarzan was being shown yet another slideshow by Jane. Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy sat back and watched. Tarzan's reactions to the slideshow were very amusing and priceless. Today marked day four of teaching Tarzan the ways of the English language…so far, he's been starting to speak in bits of broken English. It was definitely a start…

Now if only Sora and Donald would get over the differences between themselves. Gabby and Goofy had been trying all week to get them together when given the chance, but so far…nothing. Sora and Donald avoided each other's gaze and ignored the other's presence. (10)

…

Jane stopped the slideshow and looked at Tarzan. Tarzan looked back at her, curiously.

"Well, Tarzan?" she said. "How about now?"

Sora blinked and stood up from his seat. "Where are my friends, _Riku_ and _Kairi_?"

Tarzan looked at Sora and stared at the boy thoughtfully for a few seconds before…shaking his head. It was evident by now that Tarzan had completely no idea where exactly Riku and Kairi were at. Sora frowned and sighed as he looked down.

"Figures…" he muttered.

"That leaves just one place," a voice interrupted.

Everyone in the tent looked toward the entrance as Clayton appeared. He walked slowly toward Sora and the others, his head held high in the air.

"Young man, we've been in this jungle for some time now," said Clayton. "But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours." (11)

Gabby crossed her arms and looked sternly at Clayton. "Says you! We've only been here for like, almost six days! The most you've even done was bring Donald and Goofy. By the way, thank you…"

Clayton ignored Gabby, having shown dislike towards the girl throughout the week. She and Clayton just didn't get along, no matter what. She didn't like his attitude and the way he treated her and her friends… And there was just something about him…something different… She just didn't like Clayton, period.

"I'd wager they're with the gorillas," Clayton proposed. "But Tarzan refuses to take us with them."

Sora scowled. "That's because they're his family! He wouldn't betray their location to strangers!"

Clayton looked at Tarzan. "Oh, so that means you're not a stranger?"

Sora grunted. "He trusts me…I saved his family from a leopard a few times."

Hell, he even saved Kerchak from Sabor!

"And what of her?" Clayton asked, gesturing at Gabby.

Sora scowled as he remembered what exactly happened upon his reunion with Gabby. He almost lost her if he hadn't… Sora shook his head and looked angrily at Clayton.

"She almost drowned…she needed a place to recover…" Sora explained, somewhat softly. "Now stop bringing us into this conversation! We have been with the gorillas!"

Gabby nodded. "Kairi and Riku aren't with them…otherwise Tarzan would have told us."

"Are you sure he isn't hiding anything?" Clayton asked, his expression stern.

Jane was exasperated with Clayton's behavior. "Really, Mister Clayton…Tarzan wouldn't hide—"

"Then _take _us there!" Clayton demanded loudly, turning to Tarzan and walking over to him. "_Take _us to the gorillas."

Tarzan just stared at Clayton. He never really liked Clayton, either, like Gabby did. However, this wasn't because of any differences between them, but just mostly because there was something about Clayton that Tarzan sensed was wrong… He just didn't know what it was exactly.

Clayton then said slowly, clearly in an attempt to force Tarzan to understand, "_Go – ril – las_!"

Tarzan diverted his gaze on Sora and Gabby. His blue-green eyes stared into their blue eyes. He could see pain, distress, and concern within their eyes. They were obviously concerned about the whereabouts with their friends.

Having noticed that, it was there that Tarzan nodded his head. He decided to take the group to the gorillas. If anything, Kerchak might know something that he didn't tell Tarzan…

Jane was stunned. "Tarzan…are you sure?"

Sora and Gabby perked up slightly. Maybe this time…it'll be different… Goofy smiled, casting a glance toward Donald, who merely folded his arms over his chest and raised his head in the air. He didn't care about any of this. All he wanted to do exactly was just head back to the Gummi Ship and get back to looking for the King. Unfortunately, Chip and Dale have yet to cast the save point to teleport the group back to the Gummi Ship.

* * *

Back on the ship,

The two Gummi Ship Engineers were still tinkering around with the Gummi Ship. The coffee had really done a number on the ship's delicate machinery. Though, they were quite happy to say that they were nearly done with their fixing. Now all they had to do after that…was locate the group. That…will definitely take a while…

* * *

…

"Tarzan go see Kerchak," Tarzan told Jane, his voice somewhat gruff and slow. He was still unaccustomed to speaking the English language.

Jane arched her brow. "Kerchak?"

"He must be the leader," Clayton said with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "He is…"

"Perfect," Clayton said. "I'll go along as an escort. After all, the jungle is a dangerous place."

"Actually, I think it would be best if you stayed here," said Sora. "Kerchak already recognizes us and you smell like gunpowder…You'd just scare the gorillas away."

Clayton scowled at Sora. "And leave you at the mercy of the jungle?"

Sora crossed his arms. "We can take care of ourselves…unlike you, we don't need a gun."

Jane looked at Sora and then at Clayton. "Mister Clayton, I think they're right. Besides, gorillas are wary of strangers. The smaller the group, the better…"

Clayton scowled and turned around, making his way out of the tent. He didn't need to put up with this…he had his own plans. (12)

…

Gabby felt uncomfortable as she watched Clayton exit the tent. There was something off about him… She shook her head and turned to Goofy as he called out to her.

…

* * *

…

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 2-12-12

Okay, it's been almost two months, but I'm back! :D Got me another fic up involving a nameless OC and Pokémon and just to let you know…OC is not her.

OC: "Wrong fandom."

Yeah, this OC right here be a KH OC. Anyways, I know it's late, but…Happy New Year! :D Also…I'm FINALLY getting to the Deep Jungle Plot! ^^ No more filler, now as we gotta get going with this world! Also…_Strangers Like Me_! :D I love all these songs…and as I keep looking into the songs in Tarzan, I've noticed…all of them fit oddly into Kingdom Hearts. Dontcha think so? Also…I DON'T OWN THAT SONG! DX Phil Collins, does…

Let's get a small translation in…

* * *

…

Gabby looked around, her gaze falling upon Clayton. She scowled at him and stuck her tongue out at him. Clayton just narrowed his eyes at her and made his way over to her.

"Young lady…we have a few questions to ask you," he said.

Gabby clenched her fist and held it up. "Leave me alone!"

"Mister Clayton, I don't think you should approach her that way," Jane said. "You said so before, she is capable of taking a man like you down."

Clayton laughed and stopped once he reached Gabby's side. Ignoring her angry expression, Clayton placed his hand on her shoulder.

"She won't catch me off guard this time," he assured. "Now, little girl—"

Clayton felt the wind knocked out of himself as Gabby's fist landed a direct blow into his stomach.

"That's fun-sized!" she exclaimed.

Clayton wheezed a bit, trying to regain his lost oxygen. Afterwards, he looked at Gabby, enraged. Gabby crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"That was for threatening us under gunpoint!" she remarked.

"Why you little savage!" Clayton scowled at Gabby and promptly lifted her off the ground by the back of her shirt.

Gabby exclaimed and flailed her arms about in the air. "Put me down!"

Clayton smiled in satisfaction. "Not so tough now, are we?"

"Mister Clayton!" Jane said sternly. "That is no way to treat a young lady!"

Clayton looked incredulously at Jane. "Lady? She is far from being a lady! This…'lady', attacked me!"

Jane crossed her arms. "You provoked her and I warned you… Now put her down."

Clayton muttered angrily as he set Gabby down. Gabby adjusted her shirt a bit before turning to Clayton. She looked at him with a smile on her face, earning a perplexed look from the older man. Then, she promptly kicked him in the leg and dashed away from him as he clutched his leg.

Jane looked at Gabby as the younger girl hid behind her. Jane diverted her gaze as she watched Clayton walk over to them. Clayton was furious. Never before in his life had he ever been bested by a little girl! It was quite demeaning!

* * *

…

Also, let's get OC to translate a word…

OC: "Fryd means 'what'…that is all."

Yup! Okay, time for the little notes, now~!

(1) I have no idea why I'm making Gabby so…aggressive towards Clayton…I either have something in mind or it's just me trying to get back at a childhood villain. Ah, good times…ya know, when I first watched _Tarzan_ (I was like around…possibly four or five years old), I didn't get the whole thing much and how Clayton died. All I know was that it was bad.

It only took me until the second time I watched it to get the full meaning of it. I gotta say, this was one of Disney's most gruesome deaths…even if it was just a shadow…yeah…I love _Tarzan_! :D

(2) Credit goes again to mah dear friend **Hestic**! :D She is awesome…nuff said!

(3) I actually look stuff up…as Tvtropes would put it, I am under the "Has Done Their Research" category…I tend to do this a lot, only because I like being mostly right about things. It just makes me feel complete.

(4) Okay, looking over this chapter, I decided to make a Portal reference…never played the first game (but I do know what it is about and I have watched at least three playthroughs of the game), but I DO own the second game…it is awesome and I just LOVE GLaDOS…she is awesome…and funny thing! I actually managed to get my AP US History to call the random name generator, GLaDOS! XD The random name generator is this thing that some teachers use to call up students. It's like choosing sticks and such, only this time, the computer randomly chooses a name. It stuck on, actually…it just started with me saying to call it GLaDOS the first few days when we met the random name generator and then…everyone else began to call it GLaDOS!

Another funny thing…GLaDOS (aka, the random name generator) seems to have a sense of humor when grouping us up into teams. It's like she knows!

When it's time to get into groups:

Random Student: "So we're using GLaDOS for this?"

When something seems off:

Me: "GLaDOS has one heck of a sense of humor…"

When GLaDOS picks a name of a student who is no longer in the class (just happened last week):

Class: "Awww…"

One of the students moved away and last week…and it was just barely the day after he left when GLaDOS picked his name…just, agh… Everyone was sad…

And then there's another student who moved away…but when her name gets picked, we just laugh it off. It's because, unlike the other student, she's still in the same state. The other kid moved to Texas! DX

Anyways, it's just hilarious! Mark my words, I will get my teacher to rename that thing GLaDOS… XD

(5) Err…as you can see, I'm not making any subtle hints that I'm planning on taking this world that was screwed over by copyright with me to the sequel…yeah… Hey! I got plans for this world! If anything, it took Tarzan a whole year to learn English…

Learning a different language takes time! DX For example…learning Spanish, which is similar to English, given that it shares the same alphabet, with the exception of the letter 'n' that has a squiggly line on it, the double "ll" and the double "rr" and other things. And there are these words called cognates that share the same meaning with the same spelling (most of the time, if not, usually around there), and similar pronunciation (or close to it) in both English and Spanish…such as super, incredible, video, and music…which is _música_in Spanish.

The kids who aren't from Spanish-speaking families have difficulties learning Spanish and speaking it in my Spanish I class! Even those who actually know the language have difficulties, like me! I can do my pronunciations and speak to a certain extent…until I start struggling with my knowledge of the Spanish language. Still, my teacher always ends up asking me why I'm in Spanish I when I should be in Spanish II because I'm advanced.

My reason? I need to learn how to write in Spanish so I'm starting with the basics… Turns out, I did the right thing in choosing Spanish I! :D I learned things that I wasn't aware of! Like stem-changing verbs…just last Friday, I learned that there are three forms of stem-changing verbs!

So far, I'm learning! :D Still need to learn how to speak right, but I'm getting there! ^^

Anyways, as I said, for Tarzan, it would take him at least a year to learn English…he's a fast learner, but for him to be fluent like he was in the movie…at least a year for him. There is a difference between speaking the language and writing the language. In the book, Tarzan learned how to read and write in English, but not speak the language. As I said before, difference between speaking the language and writing the language.

Tarzan is a self-learner in the book when it came to reading and writing… He got help from a man to speak English and some French, I think. Anyways, I forgot how long it took him to learn English, but it didn't take that long…as far as I know. It's been a while since I read the book…let's move on.

(6) Does anyone actually remember the time when they found reading difficult? Or the time when the alphabet was so new and strange? Honestly, I can't recall the difficulty of it any more. I can't remember exactly why I had difficulty reading such simple books. Though, if anything, I can't remember if I had difficulty or I just didn't want to read…I think it was the latter.

Having ADHD, I had a short attention span. One moment, I would be reading, the next, I would be sitting down, watching TV. Yeah…and then came the third grade. It was between my medication change (in which I got medication that actually _worked_ for _both_ my attention deficiency _and_ my hyperactivity) and the fact that I saw reading as competition… I was a bit competitive when I was younger and it didn't help that you had to take these reading quizzes to earn points…and you can use those points to get prizes. Because of those, I got tickets to the county fair and Six Flags…yeah…Disneyland's better! DX

(7) This word…this word…I had to make a zoetrope last year in my sophomore year for chemistry with a partner. We had to make this little animation thing involving chemistry concepts and…yeah, it wasn't fun.

(8) As you can see, I'm making reference to the Wonderland saga of this story. XD Yeah, also…Gabby can draw well! Aside from that, Sora is not amused…but Gabby sure as hell, is! XD

Also, for your information, I looked up information…considering from what I learned off the internet, _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ and _Through the Looking-Glass_ have since been published and are very much likely to be seen in libraries or bookstores…okay, let me post up a bit of information to clear things up.

Tvtropes:

Anachronism Stew: Very mild case of mixing Victorian elements, but the Porters tell Tarzan that on returning to England he will be a celebrity who everyone from Charles Darwin to

Rudyard Kipling will want to meet. However, Kipling did not publish his first collection of poems until 1886, four years after Darwin's death in 1882.

Aside from the Kipling reference, however, the elements are remarkably consistent; the penny-farthing bike, the transition from wooden ship at the beginning to steamship, the magic-lantern technology, and most tellingly the comet pin the date of the main story down to 1882.

_Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ had been published in 1865 and _Through the Looking-Glass_ was published in 1871. I made sure to look up this information before I decided to make the whole "Wonderland fiasco" brought up to annoy Sora…yeah. I do my research…

(9) Basically, Tarzan isn't the only one learning about strangers like himself, but Jane is, too. Sora and Gabby are very much human, but they are different from the people Jane is more accustomed to…and by that, I mean people of the Victorian age or somewhere along the lines…I dunno! DX

(10) Yeah, decided to explain that this was the reason Donald and Goofy didn't have much screen time during the montage… At first, I thought it was just me being unable to put them in, but thinking about it more closely, it actually makes sense to not include them in. Donald is still mad at Sora and Goofy is trying to convince Donald to forgive and forget. The best thing to do, for the most part, is to keep Donald and Sora away from each other.

(11) It took me until I was writing this chapter and looking at that comment like…almost two months ago, to realize that Clayton said something that made me think, "We've been here for only a few hours, the most you've done is bring Donald and Goofy, and we saw slides." Then, with the fact that this is a fanfiction, I managed to actually put that comment to play.

It has been a while, but not that much…still, it's been a while. Yeah…

(12) I always wondered where the hell Clayton went after that whole thing…then I decided to just have him go on his own without the group, thus is how he will eventually end up at the tree house and…yeah. I got plans, people!

Anyways, that's about it…be patient for the next chapter and just to let you know…second semester has been pretty busy. First two weeks of school since returning from winter break, have been real busy…I got a lot of homework! DX Now…I'm good, though I might slow down a bit on the KH fanfiction since 3D's coming out NEXT MONTH! 8D

I just want to keep this story consistent to the game plot to a certain extent, ya know…I might end up making another revamp, but just to keep with consistency. Anyways, I forgot to mention…

2-4-12 I beat _The World Ends With You_! :D I love it! It is a glorious game and I am SET for 3D officially now! My favorite character of the game is Neku…he grew on me and I enjoyed seeing him grow as a person. Though, I just wished he kept his headphones, but other than that, he was a good character… And Shiki is my girl! :D Only she can make the main protagonist take off his pants to fix a button! XD That…was hilarious…Shiki…she's just really a great person.

She's no Kairi (she may look it, but she's NOT), I'll tell you…she might look it, but…I'm keeping spoilers to a minimum. Rhyme, Beat, and Joshua…I love them, as well! But when it came to Joshua…eh, I hated him…at first. DX He was difficult to have as a partner! He wasn't as easy or good as Shiki, but…then he could levitate! :D Loved him ever since…and because of his fusion attack with Neku.

Joshua: "Follow my lead."

Neku: "Screw that!"

Gah…man, I really love these characters…I wonder how they'll be in 3D…I have plans, people! ^^

Anyways, you know the drill…NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is always welcomed, but I take advice, **not** _lessons_. I would be glad if you guys help me out with grammar mistakes and such, just don't tell me to change my writing style…I like it the way it is and I won't change it for anything unless I want to.

Hope you stick with this story! Till next chapter, KD out! XD


	15. Bravery

~A few days ago~

* * *

"_I'm staying." The words had come from both Sora and Donald at the same time._

_Sora spun around in surprise, uncrossing his arms. "Huh?"_

_Goofy grinned and pulled out the Gummi block that he had picked up earlier. He cupped it in both hands and extended it toward Sora so that he could see it._

"_Sora, look what we found," he said with a chuckle. "Look at this."_

_The Gummi block was a bright red color and gleamed in the light. Sora peered at it curiously. It wasn't a perfect cube block as it had some strange angles around the edges, as though it had been knocked out of position. Sora's eyes went wide as he looked at it. He turned to Goofy._

"_So that means…" Sora trailed off as Donald interrupted him._

_"The king could be here," Donald finished gruffly. He looked at Sora over his shoulder, his arms still crossed angrily. "So, we've gotta work together to look for him…**For now**."_

_Sora narrowed his eyes back at Donald and crossed his arms. "Fine…I'll let you tag along…**For now**."_

_That had been the start of Donald and Sora's animosity towards each other._

…

_Goofy and Gabby frowned at the scene before them. Sora and Donald absolutely refused to get along now…_

* * *

~Now~

* * *

SPLASH!

…

Sora's head popped out of the water as he inhaled deeply. A few seconds later, Donald did the same thing. Just a few moments ago, Tarzan had taken the group to a series of vines to swing from… It was the fastest way of getting to the gorillas. However, during the vine-swinging process, Donald had crashed into Sora and then the vine decided it was a great idea to break…and that is why Donald and Sora landed in a lagoon full of hippos. Sora was furious.

"What the hell was that for?" Sora exclaimed as he glared at Donald.

Donald glared back at Sora. "It's your own fault! You were in the way!"

Tarzan, Gabby, and Goofy looked down at the two from where they hung from the vines. Tarzan was oblivious of the conflict between Donald and Sora, but still felt rather bothered by it. Only Gabby, Goofy, and Jiminy (in Goofy's hat) knew the exact reason for the conflict. Sora and Donald were still mad at each other for that incident in the Gummi Ship.

"It's been almost three weeks now…they need to drop it, now…" Gabby sighed, shaking her head.

Goofy frowned. "Gawrsh…I sure hope they'll get along, soon."

Gabby nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I hope so, too…"

"Really, these two need to learn how to forgive and forget," remarked Jiminy.

Gabby sighed. "Let me try to snap them out of it…OI! If you guys don't stop fighting right now, I'm icing you with Blizzard!"

…

…

It took only Sora and Donald three minutes to get back up in the vines with the rest of the group…a new record! Even though Sora wasn't so sure of his partner's magical capabilities, he had already seen the damage Gabby's Blizzard had done to the Trickmaster. What were the chances that might happen to him and Donald? He didn't know, and he didn't _want_ to find out.

"_If a small little threat like that was all that it took to get these guys to cooperate, than I should have done this earlier…"_ Gabby thought as she swung over to a nearby vine.

The things she found out through threats… All she wanted was for Sora and Donald to get along on their own free will… Wait, this place seemed oddly familiar…

Gabby kept her grip on the vine she held onto and slowly swung to a stop. She looked up and found out why exactly this place seemed so familiar…

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "This is the place where I kept falling off branches!"

Sora blinked owlishly and looked up. His eyes widened when he saw the many rows of broken branches. And by many, he meant _many_, for lack of better terms. Gabby did all of this…and yet, when he found her, she was nearly quite okay, ignoring the fact that she sprained her ankle and almost drowned…yeah.

"God dammit, Gabby!" he exclaimed. "How the hell are you still alive?"

"I…just don't know…" Gabby replied as she rubbed the back of her head. (1)

"What happened?" asked Sora. "What…just tell me…"

Gabby blinked and sighed. "This was a little while before I got the hang of swinging on vines…"

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Let me guess…you stayed on one vine too long, didn't you?"

Gabby looked down sheepishly. "Yes…the vine broke and I fell…well, that's enough about that!"

Sora sighed and shook his head. "Anything else you would like to tell me?"

Before Gabby could say anything, Donald interrupted her and Sora's conversation. "Hurry it up! We don't have all day, now!"

Sora and Gabby turned to Donald and found him with Tarzan and Goofy, all of whom were now a good distance away from the two. They were being left behind!

"Wait up!" Gabby exclaimed.

…

…

Sora pulled Gabby up onto a treetop he, Tarzan, Donald, and Goofy had been standing on. The group had climbed up a growth of ivy, which led them to this area. There were many vines hanging around in the air, but that didn't matter… The group had found what they had been looking for…the gorillas.

A large, silverback gorilla, Kerchak, and a smaller, brown-furred gorilla, Kala, were perched on a large branch just above the group. Curiously peering at the group from behind the silverback, were more gorillas.

Tarzan stepped forward, motioning at the group to stay behind him. Kerchak may have already recognized Sora and Gabby as nothing but harmless, though bothersome, strangers…but Kerchak didn't know anything about Donald and Goofy. If Tarzan wasn't careful enough, Kerchak might overreact to the two.

Kerchak looked displeasingly at Tarzan. He had thought he had seen the last of those two strangers…and now Tarzan brought them back with two others! He didn't have time for this… Kerchak turned his back to Tarzan, just about ready to leave had it not been for Kala holding him back.

Tarzan took this chance to voice his request. "Kerchak, please listen to me!"

Kerchak bared his fangs and growled, but he listened. Tarzan inhaled deeply and then exhaled, quite relieved to have gotten Kerchak's attention, but he knew that it wasn't going to get any easier from here on out. He looked at Kerchak with wide-eyes.

"I know the breeding grounds are secret, but I…" Tarzan paused and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes for a moment. He glanced over his shoulder, his gaze focusing on Sora and Gabby and their friends. "I trust them."

Sora's expression softened as he looked at Tarzan. He could tell that Tarzan was trying his hardest to convince Kerchak to open up.

Tarzan placed his hands on his chest. "You see, I want to help them because…because…well, they _need_ us."

Tarzan knew from the time he spent guiding Sora and Gabby that they needed help. There were just some things that couldn't be done alone… Kala could tell her son meant well, but for Kerchak…he saw it as something completely different.

"I told you to stay _away_ from these strangers!" Kerchak roared in rage. "I specifically said _not _to let them see you and _not _to seek them out! You not only ignored me, but you also brought even more strangers along with you!"

Tarzan's eyes widened. "But Kerchak, please—"

Kerchak stared at Tarzan, his expression solemn and grave. Tarzan stopped talking and stared back at Kerchak. Kerchak snorted and turned away, ready to leave. He beckoned at the other gorillas to follow him. Kala stayed behind for a moment to look back at her son.

Kala could tell Tarzan was deeply upset, but what could she do?

Once Kerchak had made up his mind, it was final. There was little chance of convincing him otherwise…especially when he was this enraged. All she had to offer to Tarzan was her sympathy… Sighing, she turned and, though reluctantly, followed after Kerchak and the rest.

Tarzan watched his mother leave with the rest of the gorillas. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, very much crushed by the turn of events. Even his own mother couldn't help him out, now…he was on his own.

* * *

Goofy blinked and leaned toward Donald. "Uhh…did you get that?"

Donald blinked and, very bluntly, answered, "No."

Tarzan hadn't been speaking English, but rather in grunts and animalistic sounds. He had been speaking gorilla, which is why Goofy and Donald didn't understand Tarzan. However, Sora did, to an extent, and Gabby managed to grasp a few words to get the gist of the scenario. (2)

Sora frowned as he looked at Tarzan, feeling a newfound sympathy for the young man. "He was trying his hardest to convince Kerchak to help us out…"

Donald turned to Sora. "Huh? That was Kerchak?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah…he's the leader…"

"He's mad at Tarzan…" Gabby said, frowning.

Goofy blinked. "Huh…what for? He didn't do nothin'…" (3)

Sora shook his head. "No…he did…"

"He brought us along…" Gabby replied. "Kerchak doesn't like strangers…he barely even tolerates Tarzan, let alone, us."

Sora nodded. "The only reason Kerchak even let me into the group was because I saved him from Sabor…and in Gabby's case…she was still recovering from her near-drowning experience."

"We were only meant to stick around until we found you guys…now that we have, Kerchak wants nothing from us…" Gabby explained, sighing. "It's sad, really…I hope we didn't get Tarzan into too much trouble…"

Goofy frowned at looked at Tarzan. He blinked when he noticed that Tarzan seemed rather distracted by something.

"What's wrong with Tarzan?" he asked.

Sora blinked and turned to Tarzan. "Huh…?"

Tarzan was no longer bothered by Kerchak's refusal to help his newfound friends. There was something else keeping him occupied. He had seen something that was out of place…if anything, he was sure that Clayton was back at the campsite, not in the jungle. Though, if that had been the case, then Tarzan wouldn't have seen Clayton making his way towards the tree house…

This was something Tarzan had to investigate. He turned to face the group, his expression now stern and serious.

"Clayton…" he finally said.

Sora, at first, was taken by surprise with Tarzan's outburst, just like the rest of his friends (plus one acquaintance). Then, his nose picked up the scent of gunpowder…there was only one person who smelled like that and it was the person Tarzan had just named.

"Tarzan…where is Clayton?" Sora asked.

Tarzan grunted and quickly bounded up the climbable ivy growing on the trunk of the tree behind the group. He made sure he was seen before completely disappearing in the canopy above them.

Sora nodded his head and quickly followed Tarzan up the vine. "C'mon, guys! We gotta follow him! It's Clayton!"

Gabby's eyes widened and immediately, she followed after Sora and Tarzan. Donald and Goofy were confused, but they still followed after.

…

* * *

…

Terk plopped herself down in the middle of the tree house, gazing about the wooden structure in awe at the surroundings she found most unusual. Earlier today, she had separated herself from the group and Tantor (whom was most likely back at the waterfall complaining about the water's sanitation and such) to explore—er, look for Tarzan! That's it, Tarzan… Oh, who was she fooling, she was here for exploration purposes.

Ever since Terk came across that mysterious red block (which she lost) and those three weird strangers, her curiosity level was off the charts. Exploring new areas seemed to be the only thing that satisfied her curiosity—

"Hello strange ball-thing!" she remarked

Terk focused her attention onto the peculiar blue and green ball that stuck out from under a few boxes and crates. She made her way over to the object and pulled it out from under the boxes and crates. She had no idea what the object could be, but it was most certainly interesting.

She set it onto the floor and tried to roll it, but the strange ball-thing didn't get that far.

"Interesting…" she said. "Wonder what else it can do…"

…

After poking and prodding at the thing for a few moments, Terk came to the conclusion that this strange ball-thing was boring. She now sat in the center of the room with the strange ball-thing set on the floor just a few inches in front of her. She wanted to leave the thing and go look for something else that wasn't boring, but her curiosity kept her in place. She sighed and decided to look over the object one last time.

Carefully peering at it from all sides, Terk decided to poke it and quickly backed away when the sphere began to slowly spin in place. That…was new.

After a brief moment of spinning, the ball-thing stopped. Nothing else happened. Blinking, Terk slowly moved back toward it, holding out one outstretched finger to the ball-thing. She poked its surface again and, once again, the ball began to spin.

A small smile crossed Terk's face. She had been proven wrong…this thing was so not boring! She seated herself next to it and began to smack the sphere, watching contentedly as it spun faster and faster with each strike. She continued to do so, but every so often, she would stop the ball her other hand, only to hit it again. She truly found herself contented with her newfound game.

…

* * *

…

The barrel of the shotgun gleamed in the dim light as it was raised in the air, its wielder getting down on one knee as he set his sights on the unsuspecting gorilla. A wry smile crossed his lips as he watched the gorilla continue to play with the globe, very much unaware of his presence…Perfect.

Clayton aimed carefully, squeezing one eye shut as his grip on the shotgun tightened. His finger began to squeeze the trigger slowly. He knew he couldn't afford to miss this shot…this was the perfect opportunity.

Unbeknownst to Clayton, a white-feathered, orange-billed duck was briskly making his way towards the hunter with only one intention in mind: Distraction.

Once Donald was behind Clayton, he jumped up, his fists tightened and his eyes screwed shut as he loudly shrieked, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKK!"

Clayton was startled rather badly from the Donald's loud shriek. In his shock, he pulled the trigger.

…

Terk looked away from the amusing, strange ball-thing, having heard Donald's loud shriek and the gunshot. Her eyes widened as she watched something blast one of the floorboards just a few feet away from her. Fear now overwhelmed her curiosity and activated her fight-or-flight response…she chose flight and fled.

Terk dashed over to the set of broken stairs and frantically climbed them, making her way onto the second floor.

…

Clayton looked at Donald, very much surprised with the duck's presence. Donald glared at the man, very much enraged with what almost happened if he hadn't interfered.

"What's the big idea?" Donald exclaimed, practically near close to throwing his trademark fits (in which involved him jumping up and down whilst holding out his fists and making incomprehensible threats). (4)

Clayton found himself surrounded by Tarzan, Sora, Gabby, Goofy, and, of course, Donald. Sora was so mad, that he barely held Gabby back when she lunged out to attack Clayton. The only reason he was even restraining Gabby was because a small voice in his head told him it was wrong…even if the bastard (Clayton) did deserve it.

"Stupid Blondie…" Sora muttered.

Tarzan turned away from Clayton and briefly looked over the area, his attention focusing on Terk. Terk was hesitating to retreat, her curiosity getting the better of her, yet again, as she wanted to see what was going to happen now that she avoided sure death.

"Terk?" said Tarzan.

Terk blinked and noticed that Tarzan was there. She took a few steps forward and, upon closer inspection, she noticed that Tarzan was accompanied by the two strangers she had come to acknowledge as friends as well as the other two weird strangers she discovered a few days ago. If it hadn't been for that other stranger with that…stick-thing that smelled bad, Terk would have stayed, but she knew better.

She turned to make her escape out the tree house balcony—only to bump into a large, lumbering frame that just so happened to be Kerchak. This was not good… Terk's eyes went wide in horror as she shrank slightly before the silverback. Tarzan's breath caught at the sight of Kerchak.

Kerchak had been leading the gorillas elsewhere when he heard a strange commotion going on in tree house that had been close by. He had left his group momentarily to check out the tree house…only to walk into a set of events he was forced to watch. One of the strangers almost killed Terk. Kerchak was not pleased…

And Tarzan was very much horrified. If anything, thanks to Clayton, Kerchak was now assured just how dangerous the strangers were. The silverback looked first at Clayton, his eyes practically spewing fiery rage, then at Tarzan. He grunted angrily, gesturing at Terk, whom slinked back a few steps, somewhat ashamed.

Terk had a feeling that she unintentionally got Tarzan in trouble. It wasn't her fault, but the fact that she was the target of the guy with the stick…she felt somewhat at fault. She turned to follow Kerchak out, not wanting to anger the already fuming silverback.

Tarzan's eyes widened. "Wait, Kerchak! Please!"

The silverback turned, his eyes locking onto Tarzan. His expression flared up in rage. "I asked you to _protect _this family. And you _betrayed_ us all."

Not wanting to deal with anymore of Tarzan's pleads, Kerchak turned and lumbered away, taking his leave. Terk looked back down at Tarzan sympathetically, and then turned her attention to his companions. All of them were looking up at her and Kerchak, wearing solemn, sympathetic expressions on their faces.

Donald watched Terk, his expression now somber. Terk stared back at Donald for a moment before turning around slowly. Reluctantly, she followed after Kerchak.

…

Once the two gorillas were out of sight, it was then that everyone's expressions hardened in rage as every pair of eyes turned on Clayton. Sora held back Gabby, restricting her movement and keeping her from attack at Clayton as she tried to lunge at him. Donald clenched his fists at his sides and Goofy, usually cheery and empathetic, was now sporting a very enraged look on his face that did not fit his character very well…it was frightening, actually.

But Tarzan's gaze bore the most anger out of anyone's. His dreadlocks swung into his face as he turned sharply to glare at the British man. Clayton looked at everyone's faces, his eyes wide in panic.

"You don't understand," he told them defensively. "I was only trying to…"

Clayton trailed off as he frantically tried to find something to say. He spotted a long, green vine growing on the wall and thought of something.

"Ah, a _snake_ slithered by, you see." His words were practically stumbling over themselves clumsily. "I _saved_ that poor gorilla's life!"

It was there that Gabby went ballistic, making Sora tighten his hold on her. She angrily shouted threats, curses, and insults in Al Bhed, all of them directed at Clayton. Never before in her life did she ever feel so much anger…it was enough to make her cry from frustration because she couldn't do anything. Sora was holding her back.

Gabby actually did cry, very much frustrated with her inability to attack Clayton for almost killing Terk and her inability to deal with the various emotions flooding her mind. The stress that came from living in the jungle for almost three weeks and all the emotions that came along with it finally got to her.

Sora blinked a few times, his mouth slightly open in shock as he watched Gabby cry. For three minutes, Sora watched his friend cry, not knowing what to make of this scene. Once those three minutes were up, he thought of something, but before he could react, Gabby suddenly went limp in his arms. She immediately stopped crying at that moment.

…

Sora placed his hand on Gabby's forehead and sighed, somewhat relieved. She just had a fever…probably from all the stress she had been experiencing, nothing serious… (5)

It was awkwardly quiet, now that Gabby had passed out after breaking down. Nobody knew what to say… Clayton found himself ignored…for the moment, as it took everyone only a few seconds to realize that Clayton was the reason Gabby broke down.

Sora glared at Clayton as Goofy helped him put Gabby on his back. "Don't think we're through with you yet, Clayton…it's far from over."

And for the first time in almost three weeks, Donald agreed with Sora. "Yeah…"

Tarzan could feel the anger welling up within him as he glared at Clayton. Words couldn't describe the rage he felt against Clayton. Tarzan closed his eyes and turned away, shaking his head slowly as he hung his head in disappointment. There was nothing he could do anymore…the damage had been done.

…

* * *

…

It was night by the time the group returned to the campsite. Tarzan was still mad at Clayton, as was Donald, Goofy, and Sora…_especially_ Sora. Because of Clayton, Sora was partner-less and his friend had finally succumbed to the pent-up stress she had and contracted a fever, as a result. Said friend was now in Jane's tent, asleep.

"_She really needs to find a healthier way to deal with stress…"_ Sora thought as walked into the tent. _"I should probably get her a punching bag or something…"_

Because on Destiny Islands, punching bags solved everything without hurting people, all while relieving stress. The only bad part about punching bags is that they never lasted very long…

For now, Sora and his friends had some words to say to Clayton…some _very_ serious words. It was at that moment that Jane and the Professor decided to walk into the tent. The father and daughter duo looked perplexed at the angry looks that were aimed at Clayton. Sora crossed his arms and decided that an explanation needed to be given.

One explanation later,

Jane was absolutely infuriated with what she just heard.

"How could you do such a thing?" Jane yelled angrily at Clayton. "I've told you already that we were here to _study_ the gorillas, not _hunt_ them!"

Clayton looked nervously at Jane, feeling rather intimidated by the young woman's fury. "Now, now, Miss Porter…if you would hear me out, I was not aiming at the gorilla." He tried to keep a calm composure, but he was failing miserably. "I was only trying to—"

"That is enough of your petty excuses!" The Professor snapped as he looked sternly at Clayton. "You are not to go near the gorillas again! Do I make myself clear, Mister Clayton? That is not a request, but an order!"

Clayton was taken aback with the tone in the Professor's voice. Archimedes was scarily serious, for once. Clayton swallowed nervously as he backed away a few steps.

"All because of one mishap?" he asked, chuckling slightly afterwards. "Come, now—GAH!"

Clayton stumbled back, clutching his nose as it throbbed painfully from the impact it had against Sora's fist. Sora clenched his fist tightly as he glared at Clayton. Sora had had enough of Clayton's excuses…he actually regretted restraining Gabby! At first, Sora was afraid Gabby would seriously maim the hunter, but now…Sora could care less about Clayton's wellbeing, his anger getting the best of himself at the moment. (6)

What Sora had done just now, was something he decided to do to make himself feel a little better inside.

"That was for upsetting my friend!" Sora exclaimed. "I'm going to leave it at that!"

Despite not caring much about Clayton's wellbeing anymore, Sora still had a conscience. He didn't want do anything right now that he would regret later. Sometimes he was a bit too soft, but that was how he was.

Clayton glared at Sora, gritting his teeth when he felt warm liquid on his hands. Clayton was bleeding through his nose…because of Sora. This infuriated the hunter to no extent. He had had enough of getting beaten by mere children…

Before Clayton could do anything, a tapping sound caught his attention. Clayton turned away from Sora and found himself staring at everyone else in the tent. Jane had her hands positioned on her hips, her expression stern. Tarzan glared at Clayton over his shoulder, his eyes burning in silent anger. Goofy stood behind the other two, equally enraged by Clayton's actions. Donald had his arms crossed as he tapped his foot on the ground.

Realizing he was outnumbered, Clayton slowly backed out of the tent, chuckling nervously. He turned around as he reached the doorway and threw the flap of canvas out of his way viciously. As soon as he was outside, Clayton's face twisted angrily.

"What am I doing with these imbeciles?" Clayton asked himself as he walked towards the bamboo thicket. He didn't want to stick around with these imbeciles, as he called them, anymore. He was through helping them out.

* * *

…

The moonlight was his only lighting. The moon was now in its waning gibbous phase. He had no idea how long it had been since he barged out of the tent, but his nose had finally stopped bleeding. All he knew…was that he wanted to get at that native and his friends…and the gorillas…

Clayton growled and pulled out his shotgun, his hands gripping the weapon tightly. Everything that had happened was because of those gorillas!

"Blasted gorillas!" he yelled. "I'll hunt down every last one of them!"

Clayton tapped the barrel of the shotgun in the palm of his other hand, and then slowly lowered it again, not releasing it from his grip. His free hand was clenched into a tight fist as he remembered that he had yet to locate the gorillas' whereabouts.

He clenched his teeth. "I'll track them down somehow. I'll stake my life on it."

…

Breathing in and out deeply, Clayton calmed down somewhat. He pulled out a matchbox and pipe from a bag that was tied to his belt. He lit up the pipe and was about to put it to his lips when he heard a rustling noise from within the surrounding bamboo thicket.

_Rustle…_

Clayton's eyes went wide. He had no idea just what it could be and it was night, the sky nearly pitch-black, save for the stars and moon. The moonlight was not a reliable source of lighting in a jungle as dangerous as this.

Immediately, he lowered the pipe as he strained his ears to pinpoint the location of the sound. More noises came from the surrounding bamboo thicket and yet, there was still nothing to be seen. The hunter put the pipe and matchbox away, tucking them back into its respective bags.

_Rustle…_

Clayton continued to search the area, spinning slowly in place as he scanned his surroundings. He pulled out his shotgun from its sling and held it out, his finger positioned on the trigger.

_Rustle…_

The noise was coming from somewhere nearby… A small, chattering noise suddenly cried out. Clayton raised his shotgun. He knew where it was coming from now. He aimed the barrel to the source…

…and fired.

BANG!

…

…

* * *

Everyone inside the tent looked up at the sound of the gunshot, Jane jumping slightly at the loud noise. Sora's eyes went wide as he looked over at the others.

"What was that?" he asked.

Tarzan's eyes lowered slightly. "Clayton."

Jane smiled slightly at Tarzan, her expression softening. "Yes, Clayton…"

"It sounded like he shot at something…but what…?" the Professor mused.

Donald grunted and turned his head to the side. "Who cares? That guy gets what he deserves."

Sora blinked and rubbed the back of his head as he felt a lump beginning to form in his throat. He swallowed hardly…feeling a pang of guilt in his heart at the same time.

"I don't think that's right…" he remarked. "Clayton is a bastard, but that doesn't mean he deserves to die…get hurt, most definitely, but dying is a bit too far."

Donald looked sternly at Sora. "Whose side are you on?"

Sora glared at Donald. "Look, Donald…I punched Clayton right before he left. I don't want that to be the last thing I remember about this guy before he died!"

Sora's conscience would not allow that to happen! Besides, Sora actually was afraid that he might have unintentionally led a man to an untimely death… He would get nightmares from that! He had enough nightmares to deal with! He could do with one less… (7)

Sora quickly dashed out of the tent and looked around outside. Tarzan followed him slowly, glancing outside with an intense expression of solemnity on his face. It was completely empty outside…the gunshot must have come from the bamboo thicket, then. That would explain the much more distanced echo that rebounded…

Sora and Tarzan exchanged glances. They had to look for Clayton…

…

It took a lot of convincing from Sora, Goofy, Jane, and the Professor to get Donald walking out of the tent to search for Clayton. Jane and the Professor stayed behind, just in case Clayton came back to the campsite…and because Gabby needed to be taken care of. She was sleeping and had a fever…she was practically helpless if she was left alone.

Sora sighed and continued to make his way through the bamboo thicket, with Tarzan leading the group. It was eerily quiet…the only sound he could hear were of the group's footsteps.

…

* * *

…

…

_A little girl with short, red hair was running up a set of steps with a bundle of flowers in her hands. She breathed in and out rapidly in a panicked manner. She looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide with fear. She turned and continued running up until she reached the top of the steps. There, she was on her own._

_The little girl looked around and whimpered as she noticed the castle door was locked. There was also nobody outside… Suddenly, the little girl shrieked and the perspective immediately changed. A blue-skinned, humanoid creature with angry, red eyes twitched as it moved closer, making its way forward…ready to attack._

…

…

* * *

Gabby's eyes snapped open as she sat up in bed, gasping. She looked around, finding herself within Jane's tent…alone. She had just woken up in a cold sweat, scared about what she saw…in her dream. That dream…

"_What was it?"_ she thought.

Her dream started out so peacefully…and suddenly, it took a turn for the worst. Something was chasing after the little girl…Kairi…and herself. It seemed all too real… Gabby shook her head and inhaled deeply.

"It's…just a dream…" she reassured herself.

Though, there was part of her that doubted that. She had no idea if it was real or not…she was scared.

"Oh, you're awake…" said a voice.

Gabby blinked and turned to the entrance of the tent. It was Jane.

"What…happened?" Gabby asked, wondering why exactly she was in Jane's tent. The last thing she had remembered, she was in a tree house, pissed off at Clayton for almost shooting Terk…and after that, blank.

Jane sighed and walked over to Gabby. "You passed out during your excursion with Tarzan and the others… You had a fever, nothing too serious. You should get some rest, though…"

Gabby looked at Jane and nodded. "Okay…where's Sora?"

Jane frowned. "He, Tarzan, and the others went to go find Mister Clayton… Just a while ago, we heard a gunshot and, well…"

"You're worried about him…" Gabby remarked.

Jane nodded. "I'm just worried…he could be seriously injured right now. If we ignore him…"

"I understand…nobody wants any casualties…" said Gabby. "So…what happened? When did Clayton leave?"

"Mister Clayton left after we had some serious words with him…and after Sora hit in the face…" Jane replied. "And, please excuse me if this sounds insensitive, but…he deserved it."

Gabby blinked a few times as she stared at Jane. "Sora…punched Clayton? No way…"

"I believe he said it was for you…" Jane added, crossing her arms. "He really seems to care about you…"

Gabby rubbed the back of her head. "Well, we're partners…we're supposed to look out for each other. And, I guess, I'm all what he has left of my sister…"

Jane's expression softened. "Is that how you see it?"

"I think so…" Gabby replied, sighing. "He really likes Kairi, but he just won't admit it because he's too proud to do it outright and, well…I might be at fault for the way he is. I'm always teasing him and poking fun of him for it… In truth, I'm glad he likes my sister…he's a good guy and he knows how to make her laugh and smile."

"You look sad…what's wrong?" asked Jane.

Gabby looked down. "I'm scared…I really am… I don't know who my real parents are or where they are…or if they are even alive. I can't remember anything from my past except for an animal Sora and everyone insists doesn't exist… I'm lost…"

Jane gave Gabby a sympathetic look. "It's okay…I'm sure you'll figure out something."

Gabby sighed and said nothing. _"I hope you're right…"_

…

* * *

…

The group had reached a clearing among the bamboo thicket. A large, moss-covered rock was at the center of the clearing. Donald and Goofy recognized this location as the place where Clayton had found them… As the group moved closer to the rock, something caught their attention.

"What's this?" Sora said as he looked closely at the rock's surface.

A large, curved wooden pipe rested on top of the rock. Sora picked it up and looked it over. The pipe looked familiar, but where had he last seen it? It took Sora a few seconds to remember. He had last seen the pipe…with Clayton. The pipe belonged to Clayton, meaning…

"Clayton was here…" Sora said as he started to look around the area. "Gah…no good…it's too dark."

Even with the moon out, lighting the night with its moonlight, it still wasn't enough to get a good look at the area. Sora scowled as he knew what he and the group had to do…

"Sorry, guys…but we have to search for Clayton, tomorrow…" Sora said, sighing.

Donald just huffed and turned away. He still didn't care what happened to Clayton…the hunter almost killed an innocent gorilla. The way the Court Magician saw it, Clayton was experiencing his share of karma.

"_What comes around, goes around…"_ Donald thought, nodding his head afterwards.

…

* * *

…

Jane sighed as she walked out of her tent. She felt a sense of newfound sympathy for Gabby. Jane never knew how hard it was exactly for the young girl to come to terms with her lost home and unknown background. It was even harder for Sora, according to what Gabby had told her. Sora had real parents…a genuine home he was born and raised in…and a happy life. All that had been torn away from him nearly three weeks ago…

"_No one should have to go through this…"_ Jane thought. _"They're only children…they're __**only**__ children."_

Jane inhaled deeply and exhaled. She shouldn't let this get to her…not this much. If anything, she should be strong.

_Rustle…_

Jane immediately froze, her gaze focused on the bamboo thicket surrounding the campsite. She _saw_ something _move_…she also _heard_ it. Her heart palpitated within her chest…she was scared. With Clayton gone from the campsite, Jane was painfully aware just how much vulnerable she was. Jane and her father hired Clayton as their bodyguard, and now…

"Jane, dear, are you all right?" a voice suddenly spoke as a hand set itself down on Jane's shoulder.

Jane jolted slightly, immediately turning to see who it was. She sighed in relief when she saw that it was just her father, the Professor. The Professor was holding up a lit, kerosene lamp in his free hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You seem absolutely terrified."

Jane diverted her gaze on the bamboo thicket. She stared at it for a full minute before turning to her father.

"Oh, nothing…just thought I saw something," she replied. "Maybe it's just my imagination—"

A loud, blood-curdling animalistic roar filled the air as a leopard jumped out of the bamboo thicket. Jane's eyes widened as she screamed loudly in fear.

…

* * *

…

Tarzan's eyes widened as a terrified, feminine scream echoed throughout the jungle. He recognized that scream…

"Jane!" he exclaimed.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at Tarzan. Tarzan took no time to hesitate as he immediately dashed off, making his way back to the campsite. The trio immediately followed after Tarzan. Something was wrong…and it had to do with Jane. And if something was wrong with Jane, then that meant there was also something wrong with the Professor and Gabby.

"_I knew I should have left Donald behind!"_ Sora thought as he ran.

Donald didn't even want to leave the campsite in the first place! It was a stupid idea to just barge into the jungle without leaving one person behind at the campsite that was capable of defending themselves…Gabby didn't count, she had a fever. (8)

…

* * *

…

Gabby clenched her teeth as she held back Sabor with her Keyblade. Just a few minutes ago, she had thrown off Sabor's attempts at attacking Jane and the Professor by means of a simple Fire spell. This made Gabby Sabor's new target of revenge, as Sora was nowhere near around and the fire…_burned_.

Jane and the Professor watched the battle between the young girl and the leopardess from above a pile of stacked crates. Jane was in possession of a spare shotgun she had managed to find in Clayton's tent as well as some ammunition. The Professor trembled as he watched the scene before him. (9)

Gabby grunted as she managed to push back Sabor. She panted heavily as she stared at the leopard, scowling when she felt her vision blur.

"_Stupid…fever…"_ she thought.

She shouldn't even be doing this, but no~! Sabor decided to attack the campsite the exact moment Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Tarzan left the area.

"Bitch…" Gabby spat as she wiped the sweat off her brow.

Sabor hissed at Gabby in response. Slowly, the leopard began to circle around Gabby, waiting for the opportune moment to strike… Suddenly, Sabor leapt into the bamboo thicket, managing to disappear from sight.

Gabby scowled and carefully scanned the area. She had no idea where Sabor was now as the leopard had decided to make use of its surroundings for stealth. She was also feeling rather overheated…

"_I cannot afford to let my guard down…"_ Gabby thought as she panted. She had people to protect…

…

…

Gabby's eyes widened as she found herself pinned underneath Sabor, her weapon out of her reach on the ground. Sabor let out a low growl as she stared at Gabby. Gabby hissed in pain as Sabor suddenly took a swipe at her chest.

"Gabby!" Jane exclaimed.

Sabor diverted her gaze on Jane and roared at her. Jane bit back a whimper and scowled at Sabor. She was not going to give this leopard the satisfaction of knowing that it had Jane scared witless. Jane was going to do something…she had a shotgun.

While Jane didn't know how to use a shotgun, she still wasn't afraid of using it…so long as she didn't accidentally shoot Gabby.

"_Let's hope for the best…"_ Jane thought as she awkwardly held the shotgun in her arms, aiming it at Sabor. Hopefully, the kerosene lamps hung around the campsite would provide enough lighting…

The Professor looked at his daughter. "Are you sure about using that, Jane?"

"Positive, Daddy…" Jane said as she readied her finger on the trigger and then…

BANG! (10)

Sabor roared in pain as a bullet lodged itself into her right shoulder. Gabby clenched her teeth and took the chance to throw Sabor off of her. She used her legs to kick the leopard off, immediately getting off the ground afterward. Gabby ignored the stinging pain in her chest as she scrambled over to her Keyblade.

Gabby picked up her Keyblade in time to throw back Sabor. Sabor hissed at Gabby, leaning slightly to the left. She was in pain…as was Gabby, but neither were giving up.

…

Jane bit her lip as she readied the shotgun for another attack. Just as she was ready to pull the trigger, she spotted a familiar figure through the corner of her eye and turned.

"Tarzan!" she exclaimed.

…

Tarzan and the rest of the group had just arrived to the campsite. Sora was the first to see Sabor and when he did, he scowled.

"Go away, you stupid cat!" he yelled. "No one wants you!"

Sabor hissed at Sora and he hissed back in response. He had learned a lot of things in the jungle…hissing was one of them.

"If you don't leave now…I'll make you," Sora said darkly as he held out his right arm and summoned his Keyblade.

Sabor backed away, limping slightly due to the wound in her shoulder. She took a look at the group, Jane, and Gabby before deciding to retreat, dashing into the bamboo thicket. She knew when she was outmatched…but next time won't be as easy. For now, she needed to heal.

…

…

With Sabor gone, Gabby was finally able to let down her guard. She dropped down onto her knees and sighed loudly in relief. She was exhausted, in pain, bloody (damn cat), and very much relieved…

"Thank Shiva!" she exclaimed. "Ha…ha…"

That was waaay too close for comfort! Gabby was lucky enough that Jane's first shot hit Sabor in the shoulder, otherwise…

"_I rather not think about that…"_ Gabby thought as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"_Agreed…"_ said Lady.

Gabby blinked. "Where have you been?"

"_Gah…sleeping,"_ Lady replied, yawning afterwards. _"You're sick, you know…and hurt."_

Gabby's expression went blank. "You think I don't know that?"

"_Since you know Cure…try it!"_ Lady suggested.

Gabby sighed and nodded her head. She gripped her Keyblade's hilt with both hands and raised the weapon above her head.

"Heal!" she exclaimed.

A burst of glowing green leaves appeared and fell over her head. Gabby closed her eyes as a soothing wave of light encompassed her body. She inhaled, and exhaled in a manner that sounded so…relaxed.

_Drop!_

Gabby opened her eyes and looked at herself. Her shirt was ripped at the front and stained red from blood, but aside from that, she wasn't bleeding anymore. Her wounds had been healed and she felt…somewhat revitalized.

And then she felt extremely tired. Gabby clenched her teeth as her eyes began to droop. According to what Donald had told her, she would experience exhaustion after using Cure Magic for the first few tries. And according to what Sora had explained to her, it was because the plants were still adjusting to their intake of her Magic…and when Magic was used up in one go for young Mages, it affected their stamina. (11)

"I hate Magic exhaustion…" Gabby muttered as she dropped onto her knees and then, onto her face, where she then blacked out.

* * *

…

…

Sora stared at Gabby as she slept in Jane's bed. He sat in a chair by the bedside, thinking as he looked over his partner. He had seen her use Cure Magic before she passed out…and he felt jealous, actually.

"_Why can you use it and I still can't?" _Sora thought, sighing afterwards. "I thought you said you weren't going to make me worry?"

Gabby muttered in her sleep and turned onto her side, facing Sora. Sora looked at Gabby and noticed how relaxed she looked. He rubbed the back of his head as he wondered, "Will I ever be able to sleep like that?"

When was the last time Sora had ever slept so peacefully…that he was aware of? He couldn't recall…except for the day he finally stopped dreaming those troubling, strange dreams. And that happened to be just before everything went wrong and Sora lost his parents…

"Why must life be so unfair?" Sora muttered.

"_**Kid…life's not fair,"**_ replied a voice. _**"And there's nothing you can do about it for the most part, so you just learn to deal with it."**_

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Now you're just copying Leon, Blondie…"

Blondie laughed. _**"Hey, didn't hurt to try, right?"**_

Sora did not respond at all to Blondie.

"_**Look, what I'm trying to say…is Leon's right,"**_ explained Blondie. _**"If there's nothing you can do about it, just deal with it."**_

"Easier said than done…" Sora muttered. "My partner's been causing me nothing but grief, Donald keeps refusing to apologize… To top it off, we're still in this godforsaken jungle."

"_**Uh, point taken…"**_ remarked Blondie.

Sora sighed and crossed his arms. He looked up at the tent's ceiling and sighed again.

"I still can't use Cure Magic, either," he admitted. "It…bugs me. I was ahead of my partner with Blizzard and Fire and yet, I can't even use Cure… She learned it right from the start."

"_**Is that all what this is about?"**_ asked Blondie. _**"Dude…it's not a big deal. If you haven't noticed, this is actually normal for you."**_

Sora blinked and tilted his head to the side. "Come again?"

Blondie let out an aggravated sigh. _**"What separates Blizzard and Fire from Cure?"**_

Sora blinked again. "Hmm…they're offensive Magic?"

"_**And what is offensive Magic usually categorized as?"**_ Blondie asked.

Sora closed his eyes and exhaled. "Black Magic, duh…I thought you were smarter than that?"

"_**Cure is White Magic…think about it, now," **_said Blondie. _**"You can use Blizzard and Fire, Black Magic, but not Cure, White Magic…can you see the connection yet?"**_

Sora narrowed his eyes as he stared out blankly. "Uhhh…."

"_**Oh for the love of…who do you know that can't use Magic?" **_yelled Blondie. _**"Which side of your family did you take after in Magic?"**_

"My father…why—oh…_oh_!" Sora suddenly exclaimed, his eyes widening.

Blondie sighed, somewhat annoyed, though pleased._** "Does that explain your question as to why you can't use Cure?"**_

Sora had his hands to his head. "Hold on…I need to think…"

"_**Take your time, we have plenty of it—no, we don't…"**_ Blondie said in a rather stern tone.

Sora growled. "Why I oughta—"

"_**If you don't get enough sleep, you're going to get sick and it will be you who will drag your partner down, not the other way around…"**_ Blondie explained. _**"I'm only looking out for you."**_

"_Will you guys keep it down?"_ asked a rather annoyed voice. _"I'm trying to sleep, here."_

"_**Hey, Lady!"**_ exclaimed Blondie. _**"You're finally talking!"**_

"_I'm trying to sleep…try talking to me, tomorrow…"_ Lady said, yawning. _"Also…go to sleep!"_

Sora blinked, somewhat taken aback with Lady's behavior. She was rather…assertive.

"Okay…" said Sora. "Anyways, Blondie…before we go to sleep, let me answer your question."

"_**About time…"**_ Blondie yawned.

Sora looked down. "I took after my father's side of the family…not my mother's, my father's… Meaning it's going to take me a while to learn how to use Cure…and that's why I can't use it." (12)

"_**Bingo!"**_ exclaimed Blondie. _**"Now, get some sleep and stop worrying…and if you're wondering, your partner probably inherited her ability to use White Magic from her parents… She's probably like you…Black-Mage-descendant Warrior for a father and a White Mage for a mother…or the converse, or something close to that…"**_

Sora looked at Gabby. "I guess that means we're one step closer to discovering your past, eh?"

For some reason, Sora felt happy for Gabby… He shrugged it off and walked over to the opposite side of the bed. He stretched out his arms and then climbed into the bed. He didn't care if Gabby was already occupying the bed. He was tired and he was _so_ not sleeping on the ground!

"_My back is starting to hurt…"_ Sora thought as he buried himself under the covers. He turned onto his side and stared blankly at Gabby as she faced him. "Don't you dare get closer…"

Sora wanted his space… Yawning, he made himself feel comfortable and closed his eyes. For the first time in almost three weeks, Sora slept peacefully…and he was aware of it when he woke up the next morning. However, his sense of tranquility was shattered when he realized that Gabby ignored him last night… She got closer…

"_**Look again, dumbass,"**_ remarked Blondie.

Sora blinked a few times, his expression blank as he looked again. His eyes widened as he noticed that he was holding Gabby…as she slept.

"_Oh, fucking hell!"_ he thought as he removed his arms and backed away…

THUD!

Only to fall onto the ground as a result…Sora was not pleased.

"_So much for a good night's sleep…"_ Sora thought as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "Hah…"

"_**Ya know, you really gotta stop using your friend as a substitute for your crush…"**_ Blondie remarked.

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Kairi is _not_ my crush and I do _not_ use Gabby as a substitute…"

"_**Oh, really?"**_ asked Blondie. _**"Destiny Islands…the secret spot…the drawings on the wall… Who drew that addition of you giving your partner a Paopu fruit?"**_

Sora scowled. "That was a mistake!"

"_**Yeah…and you proved my point,"**_ replied Blondie. _**"You're using your partner as a substitute… That's just wrong, you know."**_

Sora blinked and sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess…you're right… But really…that was a mistake…I thought it was me and Kairi who drew those drawings on the wall…"

"_**You also need to clear up your memories…"**_ Blondie added. _**"I see a lot of them are screwed up…"**_

Sora sat up. "When exactly did my memories get screwed up?" (13)

"_**I dunno…that's what I'm trying to find out,"**_ said Blondie. _**"Oh, ho~! What's this?"**_

Sora blinked. "Huh?"

"_**You blanked out a memory of your partner getting you out of trouble with your tormentors!"**_ Blondie explained.

"If it involves Seymour, there's a reason…" Sora said, sighing. "I'm actually trying to blank out all my worst tormented memories involving him."

"_**Why?"**_ asked Blondie.

"Cuz my partner's engaged to him…" replied Sora. "I actually want to get along with him…Remember that ring?"

"_**Oh, right…wait, are you still going to be the Best Man?"**_ asked Blondie.

"Gabby said she'll talk it out with him," said Sora. "Hopefully…this way, I might be able to make some amends with Seymour. So…does that memory involve Seymour?"

"_**Actually, it involves scissors, someone's hair getting cut, and you losing a tooth, but no Seymour…"**_ replied Blondie. _**"Dude, what is wrong with these kids? You're like only six or seven in here! What are they? Ten years old…damn, this is messed up!"**_

Sora blinked and yelped as his head began to throb. "Wait to go, Blondie…I thought I had that memory totally forgotten."

"_**Why did you want to forget it—oh…"**_ Blondie stopped talking.

Sora clutched his head. "That…was probably the worst day to be me…"

"_**You just lost a tooth…a baby tooth, to be exact,"**_ said Blondie. _**"Nothing serious—holy mother of Shiva, that's demeaning!"**_

"Yeah, watching your tormentors pick on your friend and knowing you can't do a damn thing about it…" Sora said rather resentfully. "Gabby's hair should have been longer than it is now if it wasn't for those bastards. It made her cry…"

"_**Why?"**_ asked Blondie.

Sora was about to reply, but stopped. He stayed silent as he tried to recall…he remembered. "I don't know…all she said was that she felt sad."

"_**At least she helped you out…"**_ Blondie brought up. _**"And did you seriously cut your hair to make her feel better? That's adorable…"**_

Sora blinked. "I did that—gah!"

Sora clutched his head. He was starting to hate remembering old, repressed memories. It hurt like a bitch!

"Gah…I guess I did…hey, that explains why my hair looks so choppy in my elementary school photos…" Sora remarked, grabbing a lock of his hair in between his thumb and index finger afterwards.

"_**It's actually a good look for you, there…"**_ Blondie mused. _**"It's cute, actually…"**_

"Thanks, I guess…" Sora said as he rubbed the back of his head. "So…does this conversation up us from tolerating acquaintances to actual friends?"

"_**I guess it does…wait!"**_ said Blondie. _**"Wasn't I already your friend?"**_

Sora crossed his arms. "Well, now you are officially…"

"_**Thanks, I guess…"**_ said Blondie.

"_Aww, how sweet!"_ cooed Lady. _"You two are finally friends! Now this calls for a bro fist!"_ (14)

"_**Uh, Lady…I have no arms as of yet,"**_ said Blondie.

"_Oh…"_ said Lady. _"Well…I feel stupid."_

Sora stretched his arms and yawned. "Well…I gotta go check on Gabby… I need to see if she's doing any better."

"_Okay,"_ said Lady.

"_**No more substituting,"**_ Blondie warned. _**"She's aware of it…"**_

Sora's eyes widened. "Oh, shit…"

"_What's this about?"_ asked Lady.

Blondie sighed. _**"Let's talk about this in private…"**_

…

Sora sighed, somewhat dismayed with Blondie and Lady's disappearance. He actually enjoyed their company…yes, he included Blondie as well. Sighing, Sora got off the ground and walked over to Gabby. He placed his hand on her forehead. Her forehead felt cool…

"She's doing okay…" Sora sighed. "That's good…should I wake her?"

It was at that moment that Gabby decided to open her eyes. Sora's breath hitched as he found himself making direct eye contact with Gabby. He pulled his hand away and backed up.

"I wasn't doing anything!" he exclaimed. "I was seeing if you're okay!"

Gabby blinked and sat up in bed. "What are you going on about?"

_Snap!_

Sora's eyes widened as he stared at Gabby. Gabby titled her head to the side.

"What's up?" she asked.

Sora stuttered as he pointed at Gabby. "Uh, um…uh, bandages. Shirt ripped—slash!"

Gabby looked at Sora strangely. "What is wrong with you?"

Sora sputtered as he took off his hoodie and then tossed it at Gabby. "Wear it!"

With that said, Sora ran out of the tent.

* * *

…

…

Gabby looked perplexed as she held up Sora's hoodie. She shrugged and began to put it on.

"Eh, I always like Sora's hoodie…" she remarked. "I wonder what that snapping sound was…"

…

…

* * *

Sora breathed in and out deeply, trying to calm his pounding heart and trying to repress a memory.

"_I saw nothing…"_ Sora thought as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. _"Nothing…"_

"Hey, Sora, what's up with the hoodie?" Gabby asked as she walked out of the tent. "I like it and all, but it's yours…and just what exactly was that snapping sound?"

Sora stared wide-eyed at Gabby. "Gabby…please zip that up…and please don't kill me."

Gabby blinked and looked down. "Why would I—what the hell?"

…

…

Sora's left eye twitched as he tried to repress yet another memory…and hide his red face from Gabby. Gabby wasn't doing so well, either. She finally figured out what that snapping sound had been… It was from her bandages snapping, most likely from Sabor's attack last night.

Sabor's slash had not only managed to tear up Gabby's shirt, but also it tore up her bandages a bit. It was a miracle that they didn't snap last night…at least for Sora, seeing as he woke slept in the same bed as Gabby.

"_No~, bad thoughts…"_ Sora thought as tears streamed down his cheeks. _"Bad, bad thoughts…I feel shame…_shame_…__**shame**__…"_

"_**Quit shaming yourself, it was an accident," **_said Blondie.

"Shut up…it's not like you saw it…" Sora muttered, rubbing his eye.

"_**Oh, it wasn't that bad…"**_ said Blondie. _**"She was still covered up…somewhat."**_

"It doesn't matter…I SAW…" Sora hissed. "And now that image is probably burned into my memory…"

"_**Uh, actually, you almost have it—oops,"**_ said Blondie.

Sora resisted the urge to yell as that memory he tried to repress, popped up in mind.

"_**At least she's wearing your hoodie and has it zipped up!"**_ Blondie brought up. _**"C'mon, cheer up!"**_

Sora let out an aggravated sigh and turned to Gabby. "Look…we never bring this up again. It never happened, capiche?"

Gabby just nodded her head as she covered her chest. Even if she did have the hoodie zipped up, she _still_ felt exposed. Sora looked at Gabby, very much concerned. (15)

"Gabby…say something!" he said as he placed his hands on Gabby's shoulders. "Don't make this anymore awkward! Your silence is making this worse!"

Sora's eyes widened as he heard a familiar sound. He narrowed his eyes and released Gabby, turning around to face what he had expected to see…Heartless.

"Nearly three weeks!" yelled Sora. "Nearly three weeks! Where the hell have you guys been and…monkeys? Are you kidding me? Monkeys?"

Sora's eye twitched slightly as he stared at the blue, monkey-like Heartless. They were new…extremely new…and oddly fitting.

"I wonder why they decided to appear, now…" Gabby finally spoke.

Sora sighed in relief. He was glad Gabby was speaking now…too bad that it took the Heartless's sudden appearance to do that! Sora summoned his Keyblade and attacked the nearest Heartless in sight.

"I fucking hate Heartless!" he exclaimed.

…

…

Sora panted heavily as he looked around the campsite. There wasn't a Heartless in sight…

"Good…teach you guys to ruin everything…" Sora muttered.

Gabby stared wide-eyed at Sora. She just stood and watched Sora for the past ten minutes beating the utter crap out of Heartless he just encountered…someone of them actually new Heartless. (16)

"What's going on?" asked a voice.

Sora and Gabby turned to see Donald and Goofy walk out of the main tent. Jane and the Professor soon followed after. Tarzan jumped down from above a few minutes later. Tarzan never went home…he didn't want to face Kerchak after everything that happened yesterday. So he stayed…and the fact that Sabor decided to make a late-night ambush gave him a bigger reason to stay.

Sora huffed and puffed as he stared at Donald and Goofy, only saying one word, "Heartless."

"They're here, too?" exclaimed Donald.

The Professor blinked. "What are these things you call Heartless?"

Sora froze as he realized something…he just brought up something that most likely broke the world order…shit.

"And this sword!" the Professor said as he walked over to Sora. "How exactly was it forged?"

Sora's eye twitched. He did not have time for this…

"A wizard did it!" Gabby blurted out. (17)

The Professor turned to Gabby. "Did your tribe have a witch doctor or wizard in it, then?"

Sora let out an aggravated yell and clutched his head. "That's it! Breaking point for Sora!"

The Professor blinked and turned to Gabby. "Is he, ah…prone to break downs?"

"Quite recently, yes," Gabby said, smiling. "It's okay, Sora… It's gonna be okay. Who's a good boy?"

Sora narrowed his eyes at Gabby. "I'm not a dog."

Gabby clapped her hands together. "And you're good!"

Sora placed his hand on his forehead. "Let's…let's just go look for Clayton…c'mon, we gotta go."

BANG!

Sora blinked a few times and turned to the bamboo thicket. "Okay…I guess he's still in the bamboo thicket…let's go!"

Later,

Gabby muttered under her breath as she tried to ignore Donald and Sora's argument. She had no idea what the hell they were arguing for, but all she knew was that she had enough!

"Why can't you guys just apologize to each other, huh?" she exclaimed.

Donald and Sora stopped their arguing and looked at Gabby before they looked back at each other. Donald growled and turned quickly away.

"No way," he said coldly.

Sora folded his arms over his chest. "Only if _he _says sorry _first_."

The duck shot an angry glance at Sora. "Why do _I _have to apologize first?"

Sora turned his head away. "Because _you _wouldn't listen to me and land the ship!"

"_What?_" exclaimed Donald. "You were the one who had to push that button! If you didn't, then maybe we wouldn't have crashed!"

"You were the one who knocked that coffee over in the first place!" Sora retorted. "If you had just listened to me and let us check this place out…!"

Gabby and Goofy looked at each other as the argument between Donald and Sora got worse. Gabby felt extremely bad for actually causing the argument to get so heated.

Donald tightened his fists. "I told you not to press the button, still! We crashed because you had to press that button! And it was you who knocked over that mug, not me!"

Sora bit his lip and tightened his fists. "Well…yeah, but if we didn't crash here, then you never would've found that Gummi block!"

Donald scoffed. "So it's thanks to _you?_"

Sora hesitated for a moment as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well—"

"We don't even _need _you!" Donald yelled in his fit of rage.

Sora flinched at Donald's harsh comment. It hurt…

"We can find the king all on our own!" Donald continued.

Pain was replaced with rage as Sora scowled at Donald. "Oh _yeah_?"

Goofy looked shocked at Donald. "Donald! The King _said—_"

Donald ignored his friend and scowled at Sora. "Yeah! Just get outta here! We don't need you!"

Sora tried to ignore the pain in his chest. Donald's words…they actually hurt. Gabby could tell, despite Sora's attempts at hiding his pain. She frowned and turned to Goofy.

"What do we do?" she asked Goofy. "Sora's really hurting from Donald's words… And they're even madder than before…"

Goofy sighed and shook his head. "I dunno…"

Jiminy popped out of Goofy's hat and sighed as he jotted down a few more events in his journal. "I believe this is their worst fight as of yet…"

"They need to stop this…" said Gabby. "It's not just affecting them, but us, as well."

Tarzan turned away from the active argument, having spotted something that had caught his attention. He had only torn his eyes away for a moment to look around, but as soon as he had done so, he noticed something strange concealed within the thick growth of foliage that grew on the base of a large tree trunk. Tarzan stared at it for a long while, trying to distinguish its features. It was definitely an animal…a relatively large one, with a golden fur coat that had dark splotches all across its body. It was Sabor.

Sabor lied perfectly still, as though she was dead. Maybe she was…she did receive a wound to her shoulder just last night. Tarzan wasn't too sure… After a few more moments of staring, Tarzan turned around.

…

"_Fine then_!" yelled Sora. He turned on his heel and started to walk away. "I'm leaving!"

Donald turned away from Sora and crossed his arms. "_Good_!"

"Sora, wait!" Goofy called after the spiky-haired boy.

Donald turned to Goofy and glared at the Captain of the Royal Guard. "Whose side are you on!"

Goofy frowned, taken aback with Donald's hostility. "But he's our friend!

Donald waved his hand. "Aw, phooey!"

…

Tarzan tore his gaze away from Sabor to glance at Sora. Sabor's eyes gleamed as she found an opening of vulnerability in the boy. He was alone…and his guard was down. He would make the perfect prey. Immediately, Sabor dashed out of her healing place from under the base of the large tree trunk and pounced.

Tarzan quickly caught Sabor in the act and turned to Sora. "Sora!"

Sora had little time to react. He had seen Sabor running at him just a fraction of a second too late. If he had turned a moment earlier, he would have had a chance to summon his Keyblade and block Sabor's attack. Fortunately, for Sora, Gabby managed to push him out of the way and draw the cat's attention to herself.

Gabby scowled at Sabor. "Well, bitch…we meet again!"

Sabor hissed at Gabby. She did not like this prey…she could care less with what happened to this prey.

…

Sora went rolling across the ground until he stopped several feet away from Sabor and Gabby. Goofy immediately ran to Sora's side and grabbed his arms, helping him back up. Sora shook his head and turned to Sabor, glaring at the cat.

"Fucking cat!" swore Sora.

Sabor had ambushed the group, for what seemed to be the umpteenth time…well, it was actually the third time for Donald and Goofy. It was the fifth time for Sora and Gabby…god knows how many times Sabor had attacked Tarzan…

Still, all of Sabor's ambushes were rather stressing and annoying! Sora had had enough…

"Sora, if you even dare to try and attack this bitch…I will slap you…" Gabby said darkly. "It's between us two…human and feline…"

Sabor hissed at Gabby again.

Gabby smirked. "Bring it, bitch…"

Sabor responded with a low, threatening rumble deep within her throat. She turned and looked over the rest of the group. Tarzan was immediately ignored, Sora and Goofy were considered, and Donald…was easy prey.

The leopard ignored Gabby and charged towards the Court Magician. Donald wailed loudly, panicked, and frantically pulled out his staff. Despite being armed and ready to attack, Donald was too panicked to concentrate. For a moment, Donald forgot how to use Magic…the fear had overwhelmed him.

Sora's breath hitched as he looked at Donald. "You useless duck!"

Sora quickly leapt to his feet, his Keyblade now in hand, and attacked Sabor. He lobbed a fireball at the cat, smiling when it hit her. Sabor hissed and roared in pain as she was thrown off course from her attack.

Tarzan quickly took this chance to tackle Sabor. He successfully managed to wrap his arms around the leopard, locking its front limbs tight in his strong grip. He looked up at the group.

"GO, _NOW_!" he ordered them.

It was the first time Tarzan had spoken completely in English…in a rather clear voice. He wasn't hesitant anymore and his words weren't so awkward. It might have been because of Sabor, but either way, Tarzan truly wanted his friends out of here. He was tired of endangering their lives each time Sabor attacked, but no more!

However, Sora wasn't one for leaving friends behind. "We're not leaving without you!"

Tarzan was astonished with Sora's outburst. He understood the younger boy…completely, in English. Tarzan was caught off guard, which gave Sabor the chance to break free of his grip…and she did. Sabor quickly turned on Tarzan and hissed at him before going in for the kill.

Tarzan immediately retreated up into the branches of a nearby tree. Just as Sabor was about to follow after him, Sora leapt forward and took hold of Sabor's tail. Just like Tarzan, Sora had had enough…he wanted to put an end to his and Sabor's differences…permanently. Sabor wanted him dead, so in turn…Sora wanted Sabor dead.

With a rough yank, Sora managed to throw the leopard down to the ground. Sabor had nothing on him! Nothing!

As soon as Tarzan reached one of the higher branches, he spun around and looked behind him. His eyes went wide when he saw that Sora was fighting Sabor.

"Sora!" he exclaimed.

Sabor was sent rolling across the jungle floor until she finally managed to catch herself by digging her claws into the dirt and rocks. Then, having recovered, Sabor charged at Sora, her target once again shifting. Sora clenched his teeth and quickly used his Keyblade to block the oncoming attack. He managed to push back Sabor moments afterwards.

Donald scoffed at the scene. "What a show off…"

Gabby looked at Donald and scowled as she slapped Donald in the face.

"Oww!" yelped Donald.

"Sora saved you, Donald!" snapped Gabby. "The least you can do is be considerate of Sora! We almost lost you…"

Donald glared at Gabby, his expression softening when he noticed how concern Gabby looked. He quickly shook his head and turned away from Gabby.

"I coulda handled that on my own…" Donald said begrudgingly.

…

As Sora and Sabor fought each other, Tarzan suddenly leapt down from the trees and landed right next to Goofy with his spear in one hand. His gaze was fixated urgently on the battle between Sora and Sabor.

Sabor had managed to maneuver herself so that she was clinging onto Sora's back. Sora hissed in pain as he felt claws digging deep into his clothes and puncturing his flesh. Sora struggled with bearing the leopard's weight while keeping her fangs away from his neck with his Keyblade.

This only encouraged Sabor to continue with her current actions. Sora continued to struggle. He was fighting for an opening to lodge a spell at Sabor, but to no avail. This went on until Sora finally dropped onto his knees and forced Sabor's body to fall to the floor.

Claws were still embedded into the top of Sora's jumpsuit, just until Gabby decided to intervene. She threw a fireball at Sabor, landing a solid hit. Sabor immediately released Sora and toppled onto the ground, very much pained from the fiery attack.

Finally free from Sabor's grasp, Sora collapsed into a heap onto the ground. He was exhausted and in pain… He winced at his wounds as he slowly looked up at Sabor.

Sabor picked herself off the ground and growled at Sora. She slowly began to circle Sora, waiting for the moment to attack. Her eyes were locked onto his figure. Sora was injured…and oh, so very vulnerable…the perfect target…

That was until Gabby casted Cure on Sora. Sora felt a soothing sensation encompass his body as his wounds began to heal themselves. His energy was replenished, giving him a sense of revitalization. He was no longer vulnerable as he was easily able to get back on his feet.

Sora wiped the sweat off his brow and looked at Gabby. "Thank you!"

Gabby smiled at Sora…only to suddenly drop onto her knees. Sora cursed as he immediately remembered that Gabby was still new to using Cure, so she still had to deal with the exhaustion drawback. (18)

Sabor turned to Gabby, deciding to change her target from Sora to her. Sabor still had a grudge against Gabby and now was a good time as any to take the girl's exhaustion to her advantage. The leopardess charged at Gabby, roaring viciously as she bared her sharp, white fangs.

Sora's eyes widened. "GABBY!"

Gabby tried to pick herself up, only to fall backward. "Dammit…"

Goofy and Donald jumped to their feet, their eyes shooting wide open. "_GABBY!_"

Sora clenched his teeth and immediately charged in the way of Sabor's path. He winced as he felt the leopard's fangs digging into his shoulder and her claws into stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body trembling as he screamed. Images of Kairi, Riku, Gabby, his friends, and family flashed through his mind at light speed.

"_This is it…"_ he thought as tears streamed down his cheeks. _"This is where it ends…"_

Sora felt sad…but he didn't want Gabby to die…or any of his friends… (19)

Even Donald, whom he still considered an acquaintance…still, even acquaintances could be friends, just like Blondie… If Sora was able to consider Blondie his friend, then he could do the same with Donald… He was just so sad that he would never have the chance to do so, now.

Just before Sabor decided to take a swipe at Sora's face, a large fireball struck Sabor's body, sending her off the boy and onto the ground. Sora gritted his teeth as he sat up, clutching his shoulder. He looked around, his gaze falling upon Gabby.

Gabby blinked and shook her head as she directed Sora to Donald. Donald had his staff ready his expression stern and serious. Sabor slowly picked herself off the ground. She was now in a more serious state of pain that was actually noticeable. Sabor stumbled a bit to the left, but quickly shook her head, snapping out of her daze.

At the same instant, Tarzan sprung into action, swinging in on a vine and kicking Sabor into the air and sending her flying into the trunk of a tree. The leopardess crashed against the thick trunk and then rolled down the bumpy length of the tree back onto the ground.

Sabor immediately jumped to her feet and glared at Tarzan as she growled loudly. Sora winced as he sat up, turning his attention to Tarzan and Sabor. Tarzan gripped his spear tightly in his hand, every ounce of his attention focused on every move that Sabor made.

Sora found himself frozen in place, paralyzed both from fear and awe…and pain. He couldn't move without feeling pained too much. Goofy and Donald hurried to Sora's side and pulled him away from the battle scene as quickly as they could. The Keyblade vanished from his grasp.

"What's the matter with you?" yelled Donald. "You coulda been _killed_!"

Sora's fingers drifted to his shoulder where Sabor had bitten him and winced slightly at his own touch. Sora shifted his attention to Gabby, who was currently drinking what seemed to be an ether.

"Where did Gabby get the ether?" he asked.

"Donald gave it to her," replied Goofy. "…There are a lot of items lying about in the jungle, ya know."

"Oh…" was all Sora could say as he shifted his attention to Donald. "And what do _you _care? All you care about is finding your King… I just wanted to save Gabby, that's all. Yes, I could have used Magic, but I acted on an impulse! It was a stupid idea, I know, but still! Gabby is my friend and I would do anything to keep her safe, otherwise…"

Sora trailed off as he looked down. Otherwise, he wouldn't know what to do with himself…

"Heal!" exclaimed Donald.

Sora blinked as he felt yet another soothing green light encompass his body. He looked at his wounds. He was fascinated with seeing his wounds heal themselves… The wound on his shoulder no longer held any marks, whatsoever. Sora turned to Donald and looked away.

"Thank…you…" he managed to say.

Donald blinked and nodded.

…

For five minutes, Tarzan and Sabor merely circled, their eyes locked on each other. The tension was high and the moment was nerve-wracking. The tip of Tarzan's spear was pointing at Sabor. Suddenly, the leopardess dashed towards Tarzan. Tarzan leapt backward in a dodge and continued to back away. He then jumped up into a large, nearby tree, feeling the way with his free hand.

It wasn't long before Tarzan and Sabor reached a spot where the large roots of the tree had grown together, forming a small, flat platform overgrown with jungle foliage. Sabor tried to slash one claw fiercely at him. Tarzan looked about him and quickly grabbed hold of a nearby low hanging vine, managing to dodge Sabor's attack.

Tarzan propelled himself back toward the tree, planting his bare feet on the trunk and, while still holding the vine in his left hand, ran all the way around the tree trunk to gain momentum. (20) Tarzan leaned forward as he ran, streamlining his body and stretching his neck so he could see what was coming toward him. He then launched himself forward, leaping from the tree trunk and landing back on the large roots. Tarzan had his spear readied, but Sabor had vanished.

Sora and the others ran as quickly as they could to keep up with the battle, stumbling over the tree's roots clumsily. Sora did his best to keep his eyes glued on Tarzan and Sabor after pulling himself over the roots. It was rather difficult to watch since Tarzan and Sabor had been moving so quickly. By the time Tarzan had re-entered his field of vision, the older man was standing alone, looking around him warily.

Sora sighed, relieved to see Tarzan still alive. The older man had Sora worried for a second…

Just then, Goofy's eyes widened as he immediately spotted Sabor. "LOOK!"

Donald, Sora, and Gabby looked to where Goofy pointed and saw the leopardess in one of the branches just above Tarzan's head. Sabor glared down at Tarzan, preparing to launch herself from her perch at her enemy. She was ready to take down one of them…and she decided that taking out this target would leave the others more vulnerable.

Sora rose to his feet as quickly as he could, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Tarzan!" he yelled.

"Above you!" yelled Gabby.

At that moment, Sabor pounced. Tarzan turned his attention upward in time to see the leopard coming toward him, claws outstretched and fangs bared. Thinking quickly, Tarzan used his spear to block the oncoming attack and diverted the leopard's momentum downward, throwing the animal to the jungle floor far below them.

Sabor landed on the ground with a loud, painful-sounding thud, and then quickly recovered, jumping to her feet. She looked over herself quickly and found a small, bleeding scratch on her front leg. Her eyes widened and she immediately turned her attention to Tarzan. She glared at the young man as she hissed at him.

Tarzan adjusted his hold on the spear, returning the leopard's angry stare and mimicked the leopard, hissing ferociously back. Tarzan leapt down from the tree roots so that he was at level with Sabor. He stayed in his crouched position with the tip of the spear pointed at Sabor.

By then, Sora and the others had made their way to the foliage-covered roots overlooking what had just become the new battlefield. They peered over the edge at where the two fighters were circling each other again. After a brief moment, Sora made up his mind and slowly began to climb his way down to the lower level.

"Sora!" Donald yelled, grabbing onto Sora's arm before he went out of reach. "Whaddaya think you're doing?"

"I'm not just gonna _sit _here and let Tarzan fight that damn cat by himself!" Sora told him firmly, shaking himself free of Donald's grasp. "I don't leave my friends behind!"

With that, Sora wrenched his arm away and hurriedly climbed down the tangle of roots to reach Tarzan. Donald was momentarily stunned. Gabby, on the other hand, was not pleased.

"You stupid idiot…you can't even use Cure, yet!" she exclaimed a she followed after Sora.

"Gabby!" exclaimed Goofy.

…

Sabor dashed forward, running at Tarzan so quickly that he barely had time to react. He managed to raise his spear upward in defense, but Sabor's claws broke through the wood and slashed across the left side of Tarzan's chest. The young man fell back slightly, wincing at his wounds. There were three perfect red lines from which droplets of blood began to trickle down his chest. Tarzan glared at Sabor.

Tarzan took his spear into both hands, glancing down for a split second to examine it. The tip of his spear had broken off! Sabor growled low in her throat before jumping Tarzan again and successfully pinning him to the ground.

Sora's eyes went wide at the scene. "TARZAN!"

"Get over here, dumbass!" Gabby exclaimed as she tackled Sora to the ground.

The two teenagers rolled a few times onto the ground before coming to a stop. Sora blinked as he looked up at Gabby, who was on him.

"Look, Sora…" she said sternly. "I know you hate Sabor as much as me, but today…it's Tarzan's battle. He can take care of himself…he was raised by the gorillas!"

Sora was stunned. He diverted his eyes to the side. He didn't want to admit it, but Gabby was right…still, he was worried. Last night…if Jane hadn't been so lucky with her aiming, then Gabby…Sora just didn't want that to happen to Tarzan. So he pushed his friend off of himself and quickly made his way towards Tarzan.

Gabby yelled at him, but Sora ignored her. He didn't want to take chances…Tarzan needed his help, just a bit. He would just help out Tarzan enough to knock Sabor off of himself…

"_At least let me do this…"_ Sora thought.

Sora jumped the rest of the way down and ran at Sabor. He scowled as grabbed onto the leopard's tail, both hands gripping the feline's appendage tightly. He began to try to pull the animal off of Tarzan. This only made the leopardess angrier and, almost immediately, she turned on Sora, striking him with one clawed paw. This sent him back slightly, forcing him to release Sabor's tail as he step away.

Sabor's weight then shifted back onto Tarzan, pressing down on him. Tarzan did his best to keep Sabor's jaws away from his vital spots with what remained of his spear. As he did so, he tried to look around for where the tip of his spear had fallen. He caught glimpse of it lying in a tangle of vines several feet below them.

Just then, there was a flash of bright, orange light, followed by the smell of burnt fur and flesh and an angry hiss and roar as Sabor was practically shoved off of Tarzan. Both Sora and Tarzan looked up to where the light had come from. There, standing on the top of the large tangle of tree roots, was Gabby, her hands cupped and extended forward, smoke extending from the palms of her hands.

There was no doubt about it, Gabby had shot Sabor with a fireball. Sora smiled a bit before summoning his Keyblade into his right hand. He charged forward. He knew Gabby would be mad, as shown by how her anger affected her Fire Magic. Anger was known to have given Fire Magic a boost in power. Still, Sora knew he still had a job to do…

As Tarzan jumped to his feet and hurried to reach his makeshift blade, Sora did his best to battle Sabor. Gabby frowned as she watched Sora try his best to keep Sabor at bay.

"_Don't get hurt…"_ she thought.

Donald and Goofy were climbing down the tree roots to reach the rest of the group. Soon, Gabby was joined by Donald and Goofy. By then, Sora had managed a way to successfully deflect Sabor's razor sharp claws with his Keyblade, but it was just about all that he could do.

Between blocks and deflects, Sora wasn't able to get in a single attack. Sabor was strong…and even if Sora was a Warrior, he was still young. Young Warriors lacked the immense strength older and more experienced Warriors had, like Takeru, his father… Though, there was a distinction between him and his father… Takeru couldn't use Magic as a trade-off for his immense strength. Sora actually had both strength and magical ability. If anything, his strength was meant to balance out…so as of now, Sora was unaware just how strong he was.

All he knew, at the moment, was that he wasn't strong enough to keep Sabor at bay as the leopardess was slowly pushing him back. Sora clenched his teeth and tried to think of something. A thought suddenly popped up in mind. Sora quickly pushed Sabor back slightly and casted a small, Fire spell in hope of enraging the large feline even further. It did and almost immediately, Sora made a break for the nearest tree, squeezing himself between the tangled roots in order to keep Sabor at distracted until Tarzan grabbed a hold of his spear's makeshift blade.

Sora quickly glanced in Tarzan's direction and saw that Sabor had returned her attention to the older man. Sora clenched his teeth as he watched Sabor swiftly made a break for Tarzan, a low, growling in her throat rumbling as she approached from behind. Sora clenched his teeth together and pulled himself out of the roots slightly. He aimed the tip of his Keyblade at Sabor, focused as best as he could, and shot out a fireball.

The flaming projectile hurtled toward the leopard, but missed it by only a few inches. However, the shot had managed to grab Sabor's attention…just what Sora had intended it to do.

Donald was unaware of Sora's intentions and slapped his hand onto forehead as he groaned. "He should have left that to _me_…"

Gabby blinked as she looked at Sora. "Donald…I think he meant to do that…"

Donald turned to Gabby. "Huh?"

…

Sora tried to keep his composure as Sabor growled and hissed angrily at him. Sora had to stay calm…he could not afford to panic. He had to give Tarzan the time he needed to grab his spear's makeshift blade.

"That's a good kitty…" Sora said as he started to concentrate. "Just keep on coming…"

…

Tarzan turned slightly, just in time to see Sabor slink quickly away from him and toward to where Sora had concealed himself. He glanced at his spear's makeshift blade, which was less than ten feet away from where he stood, and then looked back to where Sora and Sabor were. His mind was conflicted, screaming too many different things at once. Tarzan was unaware that Sora had been buying him time.

…

Sora dismissed his Keyblade and ducked into the shelter of the tangled roots just as Sabor was just about to reach his hiding place. The leopard roared furiously as she thrust her paws forward. She smashed through the thin bark covering, her claws just reached inches before Sora's body.

Sora bit back a scream that wanted to leave his throat. Sabor continued with her attempts to attack Sora through the roots. Sora inhaled deeply and exhaled, though rather shakily. He needed to stay calm…

…

Tarzan moved slightly toward Sabor, hesitant. His eyes darted back and forth between Sabor and his only weapon. Sora could see Tarzan from through his hiding place. He took a deep breath and leaned toward the hole.

"Tarzan!" he shouted. "I'll be fine! Get your weapon!"

By then, Sabor had climbed around the nest of roots and had managed to come eye to eye with Sora, hissing straight into his face angrily. Sora jumped backward with a loud yell, bumping his head against the more solid roots. The leopard growled as she moved away and began sticking her paws into the spaces between the roots again. Sora clenched his teeth as he tried to find the right time to cast Fire.

Tarzan's eyes went wide, very much impressed by Sora's bravery. He nodded his head, deciding to listen to Sora. Sora…he could defend himself. He wasn't weak…he was young, but not weak. Tarzan turned and moved quickly to retrieve his weapon.

…

Sora's hands fumbled around his surroundings in search of a weapon he could use. In his current location, there wasn't enough space to use his Keyblade and a Fire spell was too risky. Luckily, for him, he had managed to find a nearby large rock. He grabbed the large rock and, as soon as Sabor's paw crashed through another section of bark, Sora locked the paw at the wrist by wedging the rock into the same hole.

Sabor roared angrily, rearing backward in an attempt to pull her paw out of the trap. Sora quickly took advantage of this and clambered out of his hiding place. Sabor took one feeble slash at Sora as he pulled himself out. She just missed Sora as he clumsily tumbled from the net of roots, and dropped down to the ground below him.

Soon enough, Sabor managed to pull her paw out and, with a loud, infuriated roar, she leapt to the ground. She quickly spun around to look at Sora. Sora panted heavily, keeping his eyes on the leopard. One false move and it could all end right there.

Without another moment's hesitation, Sabor charged straight for Sora, roaring fiercely. Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade and braced himself. He could take it…he hoped. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Goofy appeared right in front of Sora. Goofy had made it just in time to block Sabor's attack and push the animal away with his shield. Sora looked at Goofy, surprised.

"Goofy!" he exclaimed.

The Captain of the Royal Guard looked over at Sora and smiled. "Didja think I was just gonna _let _you get eaten?"

Sora smiled and chuckled slightly. "Thanks."

At that moment, Tarzan's voice rang out in a loud battle cry. Everyone's attention returned to Tarzan and Sabor. Tarzan had grabbed a hold of Sabor and had thrown her far away from Sora and Goofy. As Sabor recovered from the sudden attack, Tarzan taunted her, mimicking the leopard's growl and roar.

Sora's attention immediately focused on Tarzan's hand. In Tarzan's hand, was a sharpened stone…the same one that had been used as a makeshift blade for his spear. Tarzan gripped the stone tight between his fingers.

Suddenly, Sabor pounced at Tarzan, and everyone could only watch helplessly as both fighters fell backward. The two fell through a small, narrow hole that had previously been covered by the surrounding foliage, small twigs, and branches. Tarzan's yell echoed up from within the pit. Sora's eyes went wide as he leapt to his feet and ran forward.

"TARZAN!" he yelled.

At that moment, Gabby immediately leaped down and tackled Sora. "Sora, stop it!"

THUD!

Sora stared wide-eyed at Gabby as she, once again, was on top of him. She looked down at him with a concerned expression as she gripped his shoulders.

"I told you already…this is Tarzan's battle…" she said softly. "You've helped out enough…let Tarzan do his job."

Sora clenched his teeth. "But I can't just abandon him!"

Gabby frowned. "Sora…just believe in him…trust your teammates…"

Sora fell silent and diverted his gaze on the pit. "What if he's…?"

"We're ready…" Gabby reassured Sora.

By then, Donald had clambered down to rejoin the others. For a long while, everyone merely stared at the open pit expectantly, waiting for the victor to emerge. If it was Tarzan, then they had won. But, if it wasn't…then they would be ready.

…

…

The tension was high and the silence was unbearable. It had been three minutes already and there was still no sign of Tarzan or Sabor. Suddenly, noises began to resonate from within the pit. Some of the vines that ran deeper into the pit began to shake slightly. Something was coming.

One of the fighters had won, and the other… Sora clenched his teeth and summoned his Keyblade. Gabby did the same and Donald readied his staff. Goofy held out his shield in front of himself. The group positioned themselves into their fighting stance.

Sora breathed in and out, trying his best to calm himself. He felt pale and extremely nervous, but he could manage.

Then, ever so slowly, a yellow fur coat emerged from the pit, pulling itself out. Sabor's head was still hidden from view as she worked to free herself from the confinement of the narrow hole. Sora scowled as he and the others gripped their weapons tightly, ready to finish the battle.

Suddenly, the rest of Sabor's body emerged from the hole. Her body dropped to the floor, limp, still…lifeless. Tarzan emerged victoriously from the pit afterward as he pulled himself out. He looked up at the group as he panted and smiled slightly. Everyone stared at Tarzan and immediately started cheering ecstatically.

…

…

Sora looked down after he walked up to Tarzan. "Sorry, Tarzan…"

Tarzan looked at Sora, confused. Sora sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"When you're sorry…it's hard to explain…" Sora explained. "Hah…I'm sorry because I… I doubted you for a moment. I knew you could do it, but I just…I'm sorry…"

…

Sora looked down as he and Tarzan stood in silence. Neither one of them spoke… Then, Tarzan placed his right hand over Sora's heart. Confused, Sora looked up at Tarzan, making direct eye contact with the older man. Tarzan's expression was solemn for a full minute. And then…Tarzan smiled.

"Sora, Tarzan, friends," he said, his enunciation somewhat forceful. "It's…okay."

Sora blinked as Tarzan took a hold of his hand and placed something in his palm. Tarzan closed Sora's fingers around the object and removed his hand. Stunned, Sora uncurled his fingers and peered curiously at what he had been given.

It was a single white fang. Sora's eyes went wide, his eyes darting to Sabor's limp, body and then to Tarzan's face.

"This isn't…what I _think _it is…" Sora asked as he looked at the fang and then at Tarzan. "Is it, Tarzan?"

Tarzan smiled. "Sora brave…that present."

Tarzan put one hand over his heart and then pointed at Sora's heart. Donald and Goofy exchanged surprised looks. Gabby blinked and smiled. Tarzan had been rewarding Sora for his bravery… (21)

It didn't take Sora too long to realize the significance of the white fang. He smiled back at Tarzan and was just about to thank him, when the sound of a gunshot echoed across the jungle. Everyone's eyes turned skyward as they listened to the loud noise echo. A large flock of birds could be seen taking off into the sky. They all turned to look at each other worriedly.

It had come from the direction of the camp. The question is…had it been Jane whom had made the gunshot, or someone else?

…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 2-19-12

Okay, peoples, it took a while, but I got it! Yeah, the story did shift a bit to filler, but hey! At least I managed to progress the story! Hopefully, the next chapter marks the end of the Deep Jungle saga. For now…look at that battle. Dat battle…you know I like dat battle! 8D Movie scene plug-in galore~! ^^

OC: "Please excuse KD…she is having a _Disney_ Geek moment."

So much nostalgia…okay, that's enough! Now…recap. As you noticed...the group did not go on a side-quest involving gorillas and gummi blocks...why? Because KD don't like Gummi Blocks in KH1! Also, I'm already dragging this world longer than it should...yeah... By the way, this was Tarzan's battle...only HE gets to kill Sabor...

It has also occurred to me fourteen chapters in that I unknowingly implicated a _The World Ends With You_ reference…wanna know where it starts? The beginning…and it's dragged out. What is it?

OC: "Trust your partner."

I…I started playing _The World Ends With You_ for the first time in late December of last year. I didn't know anything about it and by then, as you can tell, I was…thirteen chapters into this story. I wasn't aware of the whole partner thing until I looked up some _TWEWY fanfics_…sometime after I BEAT the game. :C

Basically, as you can see…the reason Sora was a bit too different because he was acting a bit like NEKU. DX Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE Neku, but what kinda got to me was that there was a resemblance I could see a bit between my Sora (serious and mature) and Neku. Yeah…Sora moved out of that phase, but he's still lingering in the OOC pool…which I wouldn't blame him for. Sora lost his parents, his home, his friends…and his crush.

Sora's got a reason to act this way. What I didn't expect, was that Sora was acting somewhat Neku-ish, right before I even got to know who Neku was. Ahem…let's move onto the next characterization…

Gabby…throughout the whole Deep Jungle scenario, she has been doing nothing but trying to get Sora and Donald to get along with each other… Wanna know what this reminds me of the most?

Shiki when she tried to get Neku to trust Beat and Rhyme. Beat is Donald and Rhyme is Goofy…it's there, people! DX It doesn't help that Gabby can be just as forceful as Shiki! It just…wow, just wow…

So yeah…this whole fic? Basically, it's what the Reaper's Game is to Neku and Shiki, only instead of the Reaper's Game…it's an adventure and instead of Neku and Shiki…it's Sora and Gabby. Donald and Goofy are Beat and Rhyme and Joshua…uh, holy crap…

Fucking hell…I see it so clearly… Yeah, I'm not spoiling who Joshua is. You gotta play the game, ya know~! ^^

OC: "But there is a character with a role that resembles Joshua's in the game."

Or rather, the other way around since _TWEWY_ came out sometime after Kingdom Hearts…but I digress. Let's get moving, shall we?

(1) Okay, that was part of the original version in which even Gabby didn't know how she was still alive. Deep Jungle + Gabby = near-death experiences. Remember that! :D

(2) Always found this scene confusing when I was younger… And then I watched _Tarzan_ again and finally got it. Tarzan wasn't speaking English…yeah…

(3) Goofy has a tendency to make double negatives, so don't point that out in my grammar mistakes. That was intentional…he did it in Space Paranoids! DX

(4) I'm a _Disney_ geek…I have seen Donald throw many fits in my time watching early morning _Disney_ cartoons. It was fun and BTW, Daisy is prone to this, but rarely ever does. I only saw her do it once and that was in _Disney's House of Mouse_. Gah, I miss that show…

(5) Okay, this scene…it just happened. It just did…I don't know where it came from, but all it did was actually just make Gabby get sick much earlier than intended. She was scheduled to get sick AFTER the whole Deep Jungle experience, but here it is…yeah, she broke down. Dude…frustration can actually get to you. I look up stuff when I want to make sure about things.

And, to be honest, I'm also prone to this… I'll give an example of the times I broke down from frustration and stress…

In the summer after graduating from middle school, just a few weeks before I entered high school, I had to help out my sister with her wedding ceremony. She put me down to put beads on wires and while that seems easy enough, once I noticed I had a pattern going on…I HAD to stick to it.

It's like my OCD quirk of some sort. I unintentionally make a pattern and when I notice it, I HAVE to keep with it. Well, as I was doing this, my sister's son was getting on my nerves…he was like six and me being like…fourteen, I couldn't do anything. It was frustrating and it was late at night…

I actually broke down because of my nephew. I know how it actually feels to be in a situation like Gabby. So yeah…by the way, this is just something I just noticed by chance. Gah, I'm slow! DX I swear…not noticing these things earlier…

(6) God damn…I can't believe I'm bashing Clayton. I mean, I hate character bashing, but really…I'm such a hypocrite… Hah…well, it's Clayton and I don't like him…as a person. As a villain, he's awesome, but as a person…bleh.

(7) For me, Sora would and _will_ be violent when he sees fit. However, the most he will do is minor things, like punching and kicking. Sora has a conscience…no, it's not Jiminy. Sora's just…he's too nice for his own good. He will do things, but he'll feel guilty about them after he's done them. So yeah…just explaining why he was acting that way.

(8) The fact that Tarzan, Donald, Goofy, and Sora left Jane alone at the campsite just got me wondering…why the hell did you leave her alone? For the love of god, Jane can't defend herself from the Heartless! And I'm being specific, there! She can't defend herself against HEARTLESS only!

(9) Okay, I made Jane…different. She has a shotgun and she's actually doing something in this KH fic, unlike in the game… I scare myself.

(10) And it seems I made Jane…assertive. She just fricken' shot at a leopard in the dark and knows very well that she doesn't know how to use a gun! DX I swear, Jane just got upped from her supporting character role to an actually _ally_. And yes, there is a difference…

Think of the Hydra battle in Olympus Coliseum in which involved Phil yelling, "Get up on the Hydra's back!" Megara, Pegasus, and Phil were no longer just supporting characters, but allies in that battle. They DID something.

So Jane's no longer neutral, but active. Keep that in mind…

(11) This trait right here…just remember this. Get it memorized…

OC: "It's going to be a reoccurring situation…"

And I mean the whole feeling exhausted after using Cure Magic. It's going to happen… The higher the level of Cure Magic, the more often this will happen…at first. The plants that provide Cure Magic still need to learn of their host's Magic potential so they share tap into their Magic without draining them of their energy. Healing…it's like you're breathing life into something. That's how I see it. Yeah…

(12) And now you know why. Yeah, seeing as I kept bring up how Sora's father is the black sheep in his Black Mage family because he can't use Magic and how his mother is a White Mage…yeah. It wasn't because of Hikari coming from a long line of White Mages, but actually Takeru's family being from a long line of Black Mages. I'll explain how Magic works…how it is inherited, I mean.

Magic is actually a genetic trait. There are two alleles for this ability…there is the dominant allele that Magic and there is the recessive allele that is non-magic. Nameless KH OC, if you will~!

OC: "Introducing, fanfic Biology created especially for this KH fandom…KD will be your teacher and today's lesson: genetics."

Today, I shall be using Mendel's law to explain this…Okay, dominant Magic trait is characterized by big M and recessive non-magical trait is represented by little m. Here are what Sora's parents has for traits…

Hikari—MM

Takeru—mm

Now here are the results from this pair that resulted in…Sora. Hikari and Takeru are both homozygous, so what resulted in Sora could only be defined as this…

Sora—Mm 100%

There was only one outcome for Sora's case and, unlike his parents, he's heterozygous. Now, if Hikari had been Mm instead of MM, then this will be the possible results for Sora.

Sora—Mm 50%

mm 50%

Being born without Magic is as common as being born with blonde hair and blue eyes…meaning you need two recessive alleles. In Takeru's case, one or two of his parents were heterozygous, which is how he ended up being born without Magic…

He wasn't ostracized or anything by his family, just different. He's the first kid to be born without Magic in his family, so he stuck out… That's just about it. Now, if you're wondering what defines the whole White, Black, and Blue Magic…you will have to wait for that. I need to think for that one…yeah…

(13) If you think they're screwed up now, just wait until Chain of Memories… Also, Blondie's the voice in Sora's head and happens to be who I think is the voice in Sora's Dive into the Heart. If anything, he is entitled to access to Sora's memories…I mean, they are sharing a—

OC: "SPOILERS!"

Oops, almost gave that away. XP

(14) And so begins the bromantic relationship between Blondie and Sora. It doesn't get any better than that. :D

OC: "No homo."

Uncalled for, OC, uncalled for.

OC: "Just making sure no one takes the bromance the wrong way."

Heh, hadn't thought of that…yeah, anyways, Blondie and Sora are at that point where they consider each other bros. Yup…but seriously, it doesn't get any better than that! :D

(15) Okay, this part right here…in the original version, uh, around one of the revamps of this fic before this final one, Gabby made a comment about her clothing getting damaged up to the point where it was revealing and…Sora threw her his hoodie to at least cover up herself from the waist up. In this version, it got a bit more in depth a different way.

Sabor slashed Gabby's chest and ripped her shirt and bandages. Bandages had managed to hold up until Gabby woke up and then, they snapped. Sora saw this and immediately threw Gabby his hoodie and ran out. Afterwards, he tried to suppress that memory since…well, Seymour is his partner's fiancé and his tormentor…you do the math.

Hah, I can't believe this actually was a result from me doing late-night writing and as we all know, KD is prone to stuff from late-night randomness! XP

(16) Behold! The Heartless have appeared after four chapters of being absent! And Sora is not pleased! XD Angry Sora is angry…he shows no mercy to Heartless when mad. Remember that! Why? Let's see…oh, right! Fred…expect Gabby to intervene if that ever happens.

(17) Okay, credit goes to **Hestic**! She be the one who provided me that phrase via PM! Anything after that, is all me…up to the part where Gabby says, "And you're good!" Yeah, that was thrown in again as a result from PM-ing. XD

(18) This is just to remind you about the whole thing involving Cure Magic…deal with it! DX

(19) It has occurred to me as I was writing the notes that Wonderland was Gabby's time to shine and that Deep Jungle is Sora's time to shine…it has also occurred to me that Sora is beginning to experience his share of the near-death experiences in Deep Jungle.

Also, don't be surprised to see scenes like this in this fic. It may be humor/adventure, but I am prone to being serious when needed to…

(20) *shakes fist angrily* PHYSICS! D: My angry face is lacking a greater than sign or whatever it is called, because of this site.

(21) I always wondered how Sora got that fang… I mean, Sora's not the type to do that…especially to an animal like Sabor. Tarzan seems more like it, so…yeah. Tarzan is badass, nuff said! DX Expect this fang to get tied onto a piece of string and worn around Sora's neck like a necklace…I can see it now.

OC: *wearing sunglasses* "Bitchin'."

Okay, that was longest set of notes I have done—no, wait…that goes to chapter 20 of _Secret or Misconception_…the chapter that was ALMOST FIFTY PAGES LONG… :C

Still never gonna let it go…and it is still on hiatus!

Don't bug me about the fic! I'm busy as it is and I'm taking online driver's ed, so I have a year to get that all done! DX Gah, I hate signs, now! DX When will it end? At least I'm getting a Wii out of this if I get my license by the end of the year…

Also…there might just be a chance that I will get _Kingdom Hearts 3D_ for my 17th birthday. I don't care if it is in Japanese and I don't understand crap, but if I'm going to spoil it…I'm going to spoil it by playing the game myself. Yup! ^^

Anyways, you know the drill! NO FLAMES…:C Constructive criticism is always welcomed…however, I want ADVICE, not LESSONS. :C And reviews…they just make me happy, so long as they are NOT FLAMES! DX If you don't like this fic, tell me why…just don't insult it.

Now be patient for chapter sixteen and if there are any mistakes, please excuse them… I'll get to them when I can! Till next time, KD out! XD


	16. Friends in the Heart

Terk ran out of the jungle as fast as she could. Strange, monster things were after her. She was scared…scared of the monster things and scared for her life. She had separated herself from the gorillas in search of Tarzan because her friend hadn't returned last night. She was worried, but now…she was just scared.

She kept running, soon coming across the campsite. Much to her horror, the monster things were there, blocking her way. She took a right turn and entered the only thing that hadn't been blocked…the tent.

Jane had been minding her own business in the tent, rearranging slides, when all of a sudden, a female gorilla just suddenly entered the tent. Her eyes widened as the gorilla kept running towards her until it crashed into her.

THUD!

The impact was loud enough to be heard outside the tent. It was also enough to shake the campsite…most likely in a comedic fashion of some sort. (1)

Jane shook her head, slightly dazed from the impact. It took her a few seconds to realize that there was a gorilla…_on_ her! A gorilla, the animal she and her father had been looking for!

Jane gently lifted the gorilla away from her to get a better look at it. The gorilla stared back at her and immediately wrapped its arms around her. Jane was stunned by this sudden behavior, though, from the way the gorilla was trembling, she knew it had to be scared. She tried to comfort the gorilla, but stopped when she heard the flap of the tent open up.

Someone had just entered the tent… Jane turned to the entrance, her eyes widening as she found out what exactly frightened the gorilla. Then, everything went black…

* * *

"WAAUGH!"

THUD!

Gabby grumbled as she immediately cursed the existence that were banana peels after landing flat on her tailbone. Since leaving the bamboo thicket, she and the rest of the group had been ambushed with Heartless…monkey Heartless. And that wasn't the best part… the monkeys came in two varieties!

There was male, which equaled blue monkeys that Sora named, "Power Wilds". And there was female, which equaled feminine-looking orange monkeys with red bows and slingshots that Gabby named, "Bouncy Wilds". Bouncy Wilds, as Gabby found out the hard way, dropped banana peels for people to slip on…it was actually a very painful cliché to experience.

Gabby blinked as she noticed some yellow orbs surrounding her. It was Munny, but she didn't recall killing any—her eyes widened as she immediately checked her pockets.

"My Munny!" she exclaimed.

Slipping on a Bouncy Wild's banana peel not only caused you to slip, but it also caused you to lose your money, as Gabby just found out. This enraged Gabby…

"No one messes with my money!" she exclaimed as she picked up a banana peel. "Slip on this, bitch!"

Gabby threw a banana peel in the way of a Bouncy Wild and, by chance, the Bouncy Wild managed to slip on it. The Bouncy Wild let out a small animalistic chatter as it slipped and landed right on its rear end. Moments after landing, a huge amount of yellow orbs began to surround the Bouncy Wild. Gabby stared at the Bouncy Wild in awe for a full five seconds before going in for the kill. (2)

Meanwhile with Sora,

Sora didn't have as much luck as Gabby did as he had to deal with close-combat attacks from Power Wilds…and the occasional long-ranged attack from a single Bouncy Wild. Donald and Goofy were working together to take out the Bouncy Wilds, trying to avoid every little banana peel on the ground. They had already seen Gabby slip on one…they would rather avoid the painful cliché.

Tarzan was somewhat out of commission, given the little time he had to fix his spear before the Heartless ambush (translation: it's still broken). However, Tarzan was at least able to use his spear's makeshift-blade for close-combat attacks. Right after Sora would land a rather hard blow on a Power Wild, Tarzan rushed in for the final blow. And so was the current partnership between Tarzan and Sora.

* * *

Elsewhere,

The Professor stared at the strange creature that stood before him. Earlier, it had entered his tent and then ran into the bamboo thicket. The Professor followed after it, the possibility of having discovered a new species of animal motivating his ambition.

"Just what are you?" he asked as he looked over the creature.

The creature was small, and inky-black in coloration. It had beady, yellow eyes and twitching antennae on its head. It seemed harmless, adorable even, but much more fascinating to the Professor. He paid no attention to the claws it had or the eerie look it had in its eyes. He just observed it…

Suddenly, the creature turned its head to a random direction, its antennae twitching a bit as it picked up a hissing sound.

* * *

…

_**The coast is clear…we must take him back, now…**_

The creature nodded its head and walked out of the tent. This voice…it wasn't the voice in its head, no… It was a friend…communicating with it. It had been a while since the voice in its head last spoke… It was probably asleep, bored of its host ignoring its orders.

The creature didn't care…it was free from conflict, and it liked that. Shaking its head, the creature turned to the bumbling Professor. While it and its friend weren't able to get to the man's daughter in time, at least he was safe…

"_I'm sure those two will get her back…"_ the creature thought as it recalled the young girl that had named him…and the boy that he disliked and slashed. _"It has been a while…"_ (3)

…

* * *

…

Moments later,

Sora, Gabby, Donald, Goofy, and Tarzan searched the campsite for Jane and the Professor. So far, there was no sign of either of them. Tarzan was frantic; looking through every little nook he was sure that was big enough for either Jane or the Professor to fit in. Donald and Goofy searched the tents and Sora and Gabby took to searching the other half of the campsite.

Sora sighed as he took a quick look over the campsite from the top of the flagpole. He scanned the area, his gaze focusing in on what seemed to be a young woman dressed in white. The young woman stared into the bamboo thicket near the clothesline, almost blending in with the clothes that had been hanging out to dry. Immediately, Sora slid down the flagpole and ran towards the young woman, thinking it might have been Jane. However, upon closer inspection, Sora stopped as he noticed a strange emblem on the woman's forehead and the yellow, beady eyes it had. It wasn't Jane or a woman…it was a Heartless.

Sora scowled as he summoned his Keyblade and charged. He was tired of all these Heartless, despite today being the first in many weeks that he had seen and encountered the Heartless. Still, he never liked the Heartless after learning it was their fault his and many, others' worlds were gone…and it didn't help that Jane and the Professor were missing, either.

The Heartless kept its position, never once moving from its spot as it stared into the bamboo thicket. It was almost as if it was unaware of Sora…that was until a large, crystal ball suddenly came out of nowhere and slammed into Sora, preventing him from landing a full blow on the Heartless and sending him back onto the ground.

THUD!

Sora winced as the back of his head hit the ground…hard. He sat up after a few moments and winced as he felt his head throb. He clutched his head and hunched over, trying his best to ease the pain, but to no avail. Tears welded up in the corner of his eyes…he was very close to crying from the pain. For Sora to cry out from pain, it had to have _hurt_ a lot… (4)

It was at that moment that the Heartless turned away from the bamboo thicket and focused its attention on Sora. The Heartless tilted its head to the side, the look in its eyes almost wavering in sympathy as it took note of Sora's pain. It turned from its position and began to walk over to Sora.

Sora looked up with one eye open and his heart almost stopped as he noticed the Heartless walking over to him. He was in deep pain and very much vulnerable in the state he was in now…the perfect target for a Heartless and bonus points…he wielded a Keyblade.

Sora tried to back away, but cringed as his head began to throb. He heard fabric tear and looked up as he noticed the Heartless was tearing up its white headdress. After tearing up a large amount of fabric off the ends of its long, headdress, the Heartless held out its hand in front of its face and blew into it.

Sora's eyes widened in awe as he saw ice-crystals form as the Heartless blew into its hand. After a few seconds, the Heartless's hand was full of small, round ice balls. The Heartless then used the fabric it had torn off of its headdress as a makeshift bag and dropped the ice balls into it. The Heartless tied a knot on top of the bag and directed its attention to Sora before holding out the makeshift bag to him.

Sora stared at the Heartless, completely puzzled with its behavior. He should be dead by now, according to what he had heard from Leon and Yuffie… Heartless are supposed to only live by instinct, and yet…this happened. It was almost like…Fred…

The Heartless looked at Sora and sighed, deciding to take matters into its own hands. It knelt down to Sora's side and tilted his head down. Sora blinked as he felt chilling, but soothing sensation on the back of his head. The Heartless had just given him a makeshift cold compress! He was _still_ **alive**!

Sora looked up at the Heartless, blinking owlishly when he noticed just how motherly it seemed as it helped him tend to the bump on his head. He frowned as he remembered his own mother…

"Mama…" he said.

The Heartless perked up and looked at Sora. It gently placed its hands on Sora's shoulder and patted it reassuringly. Sora looked at the Heartless and for that brief moment, he saw something… It—no…she was different… Just like Fred…

"Mama…" Sora said again, noticing just how accepting the Heartless was to being called by this name. He really wanted his mother…so he decided that, just like Gabby, he would give this Heartless a name…

"I'll call you, 'Mama'…" he said.

The Heartless looked at Sora and nodded her head… Mama…she liked this name. (5)

A few minutes later,

…

*hissing*

The Heartless, now named "Mama", turned to the bamboo thicket and stood up. Sora stared curiously at Mama. Mama's attention was focused on the bamboo thicket, almost as if she was waiting for something to come out…

…

Sora blinked as a Shadow Heartless popped out of the bamboo thicket. The Heartless looked around the area, stopping when it spotted Mama. The Shadow Heartless immediately dashed over to Mama and leapt up. Mama opened her arms and caught the Shadow Heartless, embracing it.

Sora was stunned as he watched the scene before him. That Shadow Heartless…and Mama…they got along very well together… And was that Shadow Heartless who he thought it was?

"Fred?" he said.

The Shadow Heartless blinked and looked at Sora from over Mama's shoulder. The Shadow Heartless narrowed his eyes and hissed at Sora. Sora narrowed his eyes at the Shadow Heartless.

"Right back at ya, Fred…" he remarked. "Wait a second—what are you doing here?"

Fred didn't have time to answer as Mama shushed him and turned to Sora. Sora blinked and closed his eyes as Mama patted him gently on the head.

"Uh, Sora…what's going on and why are you still alive?" asked a voice.

Sora turned and saw that it was Gabby. She was staring wide-eyed at the Heartless, somewhat surprised with its appearance and, for the most part, Sora being alive. It took her a few moments to realize that the Heartless was different, which explained why Sora was alive.

"Fred!" exclaimed Gabby. "Oh, my god, it's been so long and—what are you doing here in the jungle?"

Fred shrugged. He had no idea or rather, no idea how to explain the ability of Heartless travel, given his only way of communication is through hissing, the language of the Heartless. He doubted that either Sora or Gabby knew the language of Heartless…

"Oh…well, still!" Gabby said, smiling. "It's good to see you! By the way, who is your lady friend?"

Gabby looked over the Heartless that had Fred. The Heartless blinked and just waved at Gabby before snapping her fingers. Immediately, she and Fred disappeared in a black vortex.

...

...

Sora and Gabby blinked as they watched the Professor run out of the bamboo thicket. The Professor looked around, his gaze falling upon Sora and Gabby.

"Oh, you haven't, by chance, seen a peculiar black creature, have you?" he asked.

Sora nodded. "Yeah…he disappeared."

The Professor frowned. "Oh…and it was such a fascinating thing, too… I say, what happened, here?"

The Professor stared wide-eyed at the cluttered campsite. It was almost as if a storm had passed by and thrown everything around.

Books and papers were lying around the ground, some of them with pages torn out. Shards of broken porcelain plates and bowls littered the ground, along with several broken crates and chests. Furniture had been knocked down. The entire chemistry set on the table had been smashed into pieces and parts of the tents had collapsed. The state the campsite was in was absolute chaos. It was clear that someone or some_thing_ had attacked while everyone had left for the bamboo thicket…

The Professor turned to Sora and Gabby. "W-Where's Jane?"

Sora frowned and looked at Gabby. Gabby rubbed the back of her head.

"Let's…discuss this back in the tent…" Gabby said somewhat sheepishly. "Everyone's waiting for us…"

And that is exactly what they did. The reason Gabby had come to Sora in the first place was to tell him the news, which was told by Goofy inside the tent… Jane was nowhere to be found on the campsite… She was gone. The Professor was thought to have been gone as well, but as Gabby and Sora found out, the Professor had been following after Fred—

"Say, you don't think Fred led the Professor purposely away from the campsite, do you?" Gabby asked Sora.

"Who's Fred?" asked Goofy.

Sora looked at Goofy and face-palmed. It had occurred to him that he had never told anyone, aside from Leon and Yuffie…and possibly Cid, about Gabby's encounter with a Heartless she named, "Fred".

"Hold on…just give me a minute…" Sora said as he let out an aggravated sigh.

One explanation later,

Donald was unconvinced about the whole explanation whilst Goofy was just baffled. Tarzan had no idea what was just explained and the Professor was very much intrigued. Jiminy, who was still in Goofy's hat, was jotting the explanation down in his journal. He thought this was a very peculiar subject that the Queen would be interested in reading. He also thought it was a very good time to edit the character page in his journal as he created a new entry called, "Fred".

"Anyways, Gabby, here, thinks Fred led the Professor away from the campsite before whatever came and messed it up," Sora continued. "So, Professor…what was the state the campsite was in before you followed Fred?"

"Well, it certainly wasn't like this!" replied the Professor. "I recall leaving the campsite in a much neater state, and not _this_ disastrous mess."

Gabby crossed her arms. "That means Fred knew something bad was going to happen…that's why he led the Professor away from the campsite."

Donald was tapping his foot impatiently on the ground. He didn't believe any of this.

"Ah, phooey!" he scoffed. "It probably just wanted an easy meal!"

Gabby scowled at Donald. She was about to snap at him, but Sora intervened.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "That's not nice! Fred would never do that!"

Donald narrowed his eyes at Sora. "And why not?"

"Because Gabby is still alive…" Jiminy replied as he popped out of Goofy's hat. "Heartless act on instinct alone…from what Sora has explained, Fred is different from other Heartless, given the fact that he can actually _think_."

"Yeah, I still don't like Fred," Sora said as he crossed his arms. "He slashed my face, but… I will acknowledge the fact that he can think. I don't trust him, still, but I can make exceptions…"

"Like you did with his lady friend?" asked Gabby.

The Professor blinked and looked at Sora. "What's this about a lady friend?"

Sora's face turned red as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it was not that long ago…"

…

One more explanation later,

…

Gabby looked questioningly at Sora. "Mama? You named her, 'Mama'?"

Sora looked away from Gabby. "She reminds me a lot of one… She helped me with the bump on my head and didn't kill me…"

"Yeah, I get that, but I was expecting a more suitable name, like Gypsy or something…" said Gabby. "But I guess Mama fits…"

"And, unlike Fred, I actually trust Mama…" stated Sora. "She never slashed me…and I actually like her."

"So what are we supposed to make of these Heartless?" asked Jiminy.

Sora and Gabby turned to Jiminy. "They're different…" (6)

…

…

Goofy stayed behind at the campsite to guard the Professor as the rest of the group ventured into the jungle to search for Jane. So far, the excursion had been pleasant…

SPLASH!

Save for a moment worthy of a "déjà vu" that had just occurred between Donald and Sora while they were swinging on vines. The two glared at each other as they waded in the hippo lagoon. They didn't bother arguing this time as they knew that now was not the time to mess around…they were looking for Jane.

…

* * *

…

Jane opened her eyes slowly, her vision blurry. She tried to recall what happened before blacking out, but her memory seemed to pass her at the moment. All she could tell, at the moment, was that she wasn't at the campsite and there was a gorilla on her. She would be very ecstatic, were it not for the strange creatures swarming the area outside the small, cage-like prison she and the gorilla were caged.

She looked around, deducing from her surroundings that she and the gorilla were within a canopy of trees. She reached out to the vines and frowned when a force field of some sort prevented her from touching the vines. She sighed and looked at the gorilla holding onto her.

"It's okay…I'm sure we'll get out of this…somehow…" Jane said as she stroked the gorilla's fur. "Huh…Tarzan!"

…

Tarzan looked around, his attention focusing in on Jane and Terk, both of whom were imprisoned in a small hole by vines. He smiled, very much relieved to see that Jane was safe…but relief turned to rage as Jane and Terk, his cousin, were caged up…they were _caged_ up. He didn't like that…and now that he had fixed his spear, he was going to be showing just what exactly he did to things that _threatened_ his friends and family…

An example would be that Power Wild he had just speared through the chest with one hit. Yes, Tarzan was not pleased…

As Tarzan took to eradicating any Heartless that crossed his path, Gabby clambered over towards the hole Jane and Terk were imprisoned in.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out…" Gabby said, about ready to cast a small fire spell on the vines.

Jane shook her head. "Don't…I've already tried…look."

Gabby watched Jane as she reached for a vine. A small force field blocked Jane's hand, keeping it away from the vines. Gabby frowned and tried to touch a vine, herself. The same force field kept her from touching the vines.

"So, what now?" asked Gabby.

Jane sighed and looked around, her gaze falling upon a huge, black-colored object hanging on the center of the canopy. It looked like fruit…though, there was something about it that struck Jane odd.

"That big black fruit looks suspicious…" Jane remarked, directing Gabby towards the fruit.

Gabby looked at the fruit and nodded. "I'll see what I can do…FIRE!"

Gabby lobbed a fireball at the black fruit and watched it burst into a cloud of black smoke. Immediately, the Heartless disappeared upon the destruction of the black fruit. It was almost as if the fruit had been the reason for their presence. (7)

A few moments later,

Tarzan used his spear's makeshift blade to cut away the vines in Jane and Terk's way. Sora, Donald, and Gabby stood behind Tarzan, their attention focused on Jane.

"What happened?" asked Sora.

Jane placed her hand on her forehead, her eyes widening as a certain name popped up in mind. "Clayton!"

"What about Clayton?" asked Sora.

Jane looked down. "It was Clayton…he came into the tent right after this gorilla ran in and…that's the last thing I could remember."

Donald scowled. "Clayton…"

"That jerk…he had us worried and—this is what he does to us?" exclaimed Sora.

Terk separated herself from Jane and turned to Tarzan. Tarzan cut the last of the vines and turned to Terk as she spoke to him. His eyes widened as he heard the news.

"Gorillas trapped…" Tarzan roughly said. "Terk ran…"

"We must help the gorillas!" exclaimed Jane.

Donald crossed his arms. "But where do we start…?"

Sora clenched his teeth and looked down. What was he supposed to do now? So far, he and everyone else had managed to keep everything under control…for the most part, until now. If they didn't find a lead now, Tarzan was going to lose everyone he called his family…

Sora already knew what it was like to lose his own family… He didn't want anyone else to experience the same thing. He had to do something to help Tarzan out…but what? He should have never trusted Clayton…

Sora never did like Clayton…he always hated the way the man acted towards him and how he always smelled of that disgusting gunpowder smell—Sora's eyes widened.

"_That's it!"_ he thought as he looked around. _"If I can just pick up that scent, then I might just be able to track him…"_ (8)

Sora closed his eyes and stared to sniff the air. It took him a few seconds, but he managed to find a lead… The scent of gunpowder was faint, but _definitely_ there…

"Follow me!" he exclaimed. "I got his scent!"

Without any question, Sora led the group through the jungle. He stopped every few moments or so to sniff the air before continuing on. It wasn't long before the group ended back at the campsite, where Jane and her father were reunited.

"Oh, I was so worried about you, Jane!" the Professor exclaimed as he embraced his daughter.

"I'm all right, Daddy…thanks to them," Jane said, turning her attention to Tarzan and the others.

The Professor looked at Tarzan, Sora, Gabby, and Donald and walked over to them. "Thank you so much for saving my daughter…I don't know how I could ever repay you…"

Gabby shook her head. "Don't…we're just glad Jane's okay."

Sora nodded his head. "Yeah…Goofy, we're going to need you to stay here a little longer…"

"Uh, what for?" asked Goofy.

"We need you to watch over the Professor, Jane, and Terk, while we go find Clayton…" explained Donald. (9)

The Professor narrowed his eyes at the mere mention of Clayton's name. "Why, that no good bodyguard…I should have never hired him!"

"We'll discuss matters after we save the gorillas and—" Jane trailed off as she realized something. "Why can't I go along?"

"Jane…you can't help us out this time…" Gabby began. "This isn't Sabor…what we are going to be facing is much more dangerous than Sabor. We need you to stay behind…we can't risk you getting hurt or worse…"

Jane frowned. "But I can't just stay behind…"

Tarzan walked up to Jane and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Jane…stay…protect…Terk."

Jane furrowed her brow. "Terk…?"

As if on cue, Terk walked into the tent. The Professor was practically speechless as he stared at Terk in awe. He couldn't believe it…a gorilla! The sight was enough to cause the Professor to faint.

THUD!

Sora stared at the Professor, who lied sprawled out onto the ground. "Uh…is he going to be okay?"

"Just give him a few minutes, I'm sure he'll be fine…" said Jane "So, this gorilla…this is Terk?"

Tarzan nodded his head. "Jane…protect Terk… Jane stay…."

Jane focused her attention on Terk as she processed what Tarzan was trying to tell her. Tarzan wanted her to stay at the campsite to protect Terk… If this was an attempt for Tarzan to get her to stay at the campsite…then it worked.

Jane smiled. "Oh, all right…I'll stay…but promise me you'll come back."

Tarzan stared at Jane. "Pro…mise?"

Before Jane could explain what a promise was to Tarzan, Sora came in between the two.

"We'll make sure he keeps it!" Sora said quickly as he began to push Tarzan towards the exit. "We better get going if we wanna save the gorillas!"

Tarzan stared questioningly at Sora as the younger boy continued to push him. Gabby and Donald followed after Sora and Tarzan, leaving Goofy, Jane, Terk, and an unconscious Professor. Jiminy was no longer with Goofy as he was back in Sora's hoodie…which Gabby was wearing. He had no idea why, but he was sure he would get an answer back on the Gummi Ship…

…

* * *

…

The entire group of gorillas had been driven into a small, nearly enclosed area by small cliffs of dirt and rock. There were growths of ivy and other vegetation growing in small segments on the surrounding stonewalls. The loud sound of a roaring waterfall could be heard from behind one of the stonewalls.

The gorillas were all huddled together, shaking in terror as they stared wide eyed at the stranger before them and his horde of blue monkeys. All possible escape routes were blocked off by the blue monkeys. The gorillas watched nervously as the Heartless hopped up and down in place, their glowing yellow eyes locked onto their figures.

Standing not far behind them was a tall, hunter, holding his shotgun in both hands as he surveyed the work of the Heartless that were at his command. A wry smile crossed his lips and he moved forward, raising his shotgun into position. He aimed carefully at the nearest gorilla, a large brown female with gentle features on her face that seemed almost motherly.

Shrieking in terror, the other gorillas fled out of the way. Kala's eyes widened as she felt paralyzed, unable to move as she stared at the hunter. She couldn't even find her voice to call to the other gorillas for help. Her entire body quaked in fear as she looked on, helpless.

Kerchak moved forward quickly and roared in offended rage. Almost immediately, a group of blue monkeys fell from their perches in the nearby trees and descended upon the silverback. The other gorillas began to scream and holler, pounding their massive fists on the ground and baring their teeth. The hunter had his finger on the trigger and slowly began to pull.

"_NO!_" screamed a voice.

Clayton looked away from his target as he lowered his gun slightly. Standing at the front of the group, was Sora. Sora stared wide-eyed at Clayton, practically breathless and very much relieved that he and the others had made it in time.

Kerchak had been able to throw the Heartless off of himself. Immediately, he hurried over to Kala's side and snapped her out of her paralysis. He glanced at Tarzan and the others before gesturing at Kala to follow. She obeyed him almost immediately, nodding slightly. All of the gorillas then retreated into the higher reaches of the area, into the trees or to the tops of the cliffs.

Clayton didn't seem to care about the gorillas as they left. His gaze was focused on Sora, his expression blank and his eyes empty. He never moved or said anything, he just stared.

Sora was taken aback by Clayton's stare. "Clayton?"

Tarzan looked at Clayton, his eyes widening as he stepped back slightly. He didn't recognize this person…this person looked like Clayton, but there was something horribly wrong with him.

"Not Clayton!" he yelled firmly. "*&&X%! _Not Clayton_!"

Sora looked over at Tarzan, confused. There was that word again…the one in gorilla that he had yet to understand. It was also the same word that Tarzan had said before, when he asked about Riku and Kairi. What did that mean?

Gabby was confused and frightened. She didn't like the way Clayton stared at Sora…it was so empty… She still didn't like it. Before she even knew what she was doing, Gabby shot a fireball at Clayton.

"Gabby!" exclaimed Donald.

The fireball hit Clayton right in the chest, but the older man didn't react. He didn't even blink…Gabby's eyes widened.

"That's not Clayton!" she yelled. "That's not him! His eyes! Who is he? What is he?"

Sora's eyes widened. He could tell Gabby was near close to panicking…there was something definitely wrong with Clayton. Gabby never acted this way around Clayton…she hated the guy, but now…she was terrified of him.

"Sora, what's wrong?" asked Donald.

Sora focused his gaze on Clayton as he summoned his Keyblade. "I don't know what is going on, but whatever it is…we have to stop it."

A horde of Power Wilds rushed to Clayton's side, their attention focused on the group. It was at that moment that Clayton finally made a movement…he nodded. It was as if that had been the signal to the Heartless as they immediately charged all at once.

Tarzan was the first to react to this as he charged with a loud yell. He went through a whole group of Power Wilds with his spear. Donald was quick to cast his spells, alternating between Fire and Blizzard. Gabby, on the other hand, attacked Clayton himself. She didn't bother with the Heartless…there was something telling her that Clayton was the source of all of this discord.

Sora stared at the fight before him. What exactly had happened? When did this all start? He had no idea, but all he knew was that he had to stop it. Sora gripped his Keyblade's hilt with both hands and charged towards Clayton. If they stopped Clayton, maybe the Heartless would disappear…

Clayton reacted quickly to the two teenagers' attempts to attack him. He jumped back so suddenly, that he caused the two to crash into each other.

THUD!

Sora and Gabby groaned in pain, slightly dazed from the impact. They quickly snapped out of it and focused their attention to Clayton. Clayton aimed his shotgun at them, his finger readied on the trigger. He was about to pull when he stopped and looked up.

Donald and Tarzan had destroyed all the Heartless. Clayton was alone…or so they thought. Clayton backed away until he was standing only a few inches from a stonewall. He held his shotgun pointing straight up and, suddenly, the stonewall behind him just crumbled away, almost as if something had crashed through it. However, there was nothing there…just Clayton.

Tarzan clenched his teeth as he stared at Clayton before charging directly towards him. A loud, warbled sound was heard before Tarzan suddenly struck by something and sent flying backwards by some invisible force. Sora, Donald, and Gabby gasped in shock as they watched Tarzan fly right past them.

Tarzan landed in a roll a few feet behind where Sora stood. He growled in pain as he tried to get up. Sora clenched his teeth and turned his attention to Clayton, his eyes widening as he saw something different.

At first glance, Clayton was floating as he reloaded his shotgun, but upon closer inspection, he was actually on the back of some kind of large, invisible creature. Were it not for the invisible creature's shadow, it would have almost gone unnoticed. The invisible creature made a strange, high pitched warbling noise as it straightened, Clayton sitting on its back with his shotgun aimed at Sora.

_**Kill him…**_

Without warning, the invisible creature charged forward, knocking Sora off his feet. Sora yelped as his back hit a stonewall. He winced and looked at the invisible creature. Clayton was still on top of it, which helped Sora pinpoint the creature's location.

"_Just what is that thing?"_ Sora thought, his eyes widening as he felt something wrap around his waist.

Tarzan, Donald, and Gabby watched in horror as Sora was dragged towards Clayton by some sort of invisible force. Sora struggled as hard as he could, but to no avail. Whatever had him was too strong. He clenched his teeth and looked at Clayton.

Sora's breath hitched as he saw the shotgun aimed at him. Sora knew absolutely nothing about gunshot wounds, damage, and everything involving guns in the first place. This was more around Gabby's specialty, not his! For all he knew, this shot could be the fatal blow…

If it was, then Donald was not going to stand around and do nothing! Donald pointed his staff at Clayton and lobbed a fireball at him. The fireball hit Clayton with a force that caused the hunter to screw up his aiming and shoot at something else entirely… Whatever he had shot had must have been part of the invisible creature as it let out a high-pitched warbled cry and threw Sora into the air. Sora screamed as he sailed over the cliff and landed on the other side on top of some jungle foliage, which softened his landing, thankfully. Sora let out a shaking sigh and stood up. He looked at his surroundings and bit his lip.

The lighting around the area was somewhat poor, making it harder to distinguish shadows. That was not good…if that creature made it over here…

"_We're screwed…"_ thought Sora.

…

…

The invisible creature managed to recover from its pain quickly. It looked around the area for its target, but found that it was gone.

**_Over the wall…and into the jungle…_**

The creature responded to the voice in its head as it began to climb up the stonewall. Tarzan, Donald, and Gabby followed after the creature, using Clayton to pinpoint its location.

…

Sora clenched his teeth as he stared at Clayton. As long as Clayton kept his position, then the invisible creature wasn't that much of a problem. However, there was no guarantee that Clayton would keep his position. That meant that the creature had to go first…

"Fire!" he exclaimed.

Sora shot out a couple of fireballs at the invisible creature, hoping that they hit. The fireballs burst within impact, assuring Sora that they were aimed well. Sora blinked as he noticed a strange coloration beginning to waver under Clayton. It took him a few moments to realize that it was the creature.

From what Sora could make out, attacking the creature caused its invisibility to waver slightly…

"Sora!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora blinked and turned to see Gabby, Donald, and Tarzan swinging over towards him on a vine. The three let go of their vines and landed right next to him. Sora nodded his head and decided that now was a good time as any to try out his plan.

"Guys, we have to attack that thing Clayton's on…" he began. "If we keep hitting it, there might just be a chance it will stop being invisible."

"What makes you so sure about that?" Donald asked, having his doubts.

Sora narrowed his eyes at Donald. "I just attacked with Fire Magic and it started going all wavy and everything… Its invisibility is only temporary until it gets hit…so if we hit it a lot, then it might stop being invisible all together…so are you in, or not?"

"Fine…" sighed Donald.

Sora nodded his head again and turned to Clayton and the invisible creature. Once that creature was done…Clayton was next, that he was sure of. Sora ran towards the invisible creature and slashed his Keyblade horizontally. He felt his Keyblade hit something, which was a good thing.

BANG!

Sora's eyes widened as he barely backed away in time, avoiding a bullet in his body. Clayton was still set on shooting him…

"_Guess he's still sore about the punch…"_ Sora thought as he ran away, avoiding a second bullet. "Your turn!"

Gabby blinked as Sora ran past her and tapped her shoulder. "What?"

"Attack the thing!" exclaimed Sora. "Try not to get shot!"

Gabby stared at Sora, her expression blank. She didn't know how to react to this…but decided to just do what she had been told to do. Gabby turned her attention to the invisible creature.

"Let's see how you like ice…" she said as she aimed her Keyblade at the creature. "FREEZE!"

Ice-crystals shot out of the tip of her Keyblade and sprayed over both Clayton and the invisible creature. The creature reacted more violently to Blizzard, than it had done to normal attacks and Fire Magic. It was enough to cause its invisibility to completely waver for a few seconds…but it was enough for Sora, Donald, Gabby, and Tarzan to distinguish the invisible creature.

The creature resembled a large, chameleon, which explained its camouflage. It had a yellow body, with five short spikes along its back. Its entire upper body was covered in stripes of various shades of green and yellow. Its hands and feet had four toes each, two in front and two in back, with black claws.

Its prehensile tail was curled up behind it in a spiral. It had a mouth lined by short, pointed teeth, a pink tongue, and large, yellow and orange eyes with small black pupils. It also had a large, yellow horn on the tip of its snout and an emblem on its chest. The creature was a Heartless…

The Heartless quickly regained its invisibility, but its weakness had been discovered. It reacted violently against Blizzard…which made sense, seeing as the Heartless was a chameleon…a reptile. Reptiles don't do well in cold temperatures as they are cold-blooded.

"Sora, Donald…try using Blizzard!" exclaimed Gabby. "It's a reptile!"

Sora blinked and nodded. "Got it! See ya!"

Sora sent a barrage of ice crystal towards Clayton and the invisible Heartless. Like before, the Heartless reacted violently to Blizzard. Though, this time, it managed to knock Clayton off its back as its invisibility wavered completely this time. Clayton landed on the ground, feet-first. He looked around, his shotgun poised and his finger readied on the trigger.

Clayton went unnoticed for a while as the group was too busy attacking the Heartless. It was more of a threat, compared to Clayton, but only because of its cloaking ability. At first, the attack went well…until the Heartless used its tongue to attack.

Sora found himself getting dragged across the ground via the Heartless's tongue. It would be disgusting if it wasn't so terrifying, seeing as it was heading straight towards its _mouth_.

"Get me out of here!" yelled Sora. "I don't want to be eaten!"

Thankfully, Tarzan jumped down and landed forcefully on the Heartless's back. The landing was a bit surprising, causing the Heartless to bite its own tongue and release Sora. Sora immediately backed away from the Heartless and shuddered as goose bump pricked his skin. That was waaay too close…

"Guh, you are SO dead!" Sora exclaimed as he gripped his Keyblade's hilt with both hands.

Sora charged directly towards the Heartless and started whacking it with a force so immense that every hit could be heard…quite loudly. Almost like a slap…only much worse…

Gabby looked down at Sora as she held onto a vine in midair. "Wow, Sora's mad…"

"Isn't he always?" asked Donald, who was next to Gabby.

Gabby turned to Donald. "That was uncalled for…"

Donald turned his head away. "Aw, phooey!"

Gabby sighed and shook her head. "Would you just let it go? It's been almost three weeks, for god's sake—yike!"

Gabby yelped as she felt a searing hot pain in her left arm. She winced and looked at her arm, eyes widening when she saw blood dripping down. She had no idea what had just happened…but from what she could assume, something had grazed her.

"Gabby, are you okay?" asked Donald.

Gabby smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, I'm okay…just a flesh wound."

Sora overheard and looked up. "Holy crap, Clayton _did_ shoot somebody!"

Gabby blinked a few times and looked at her arm. "I got shot?"

Donald promptly face-palmed, as did Sora. How did she not hear that "BANG"? Donald sighed and shook his head as he held up his staff.

"Cure!" he exclaimed.

A burst of glowing green leaves appeared over Gabby's head as a soothing wave of light encompassed her body. Gabby's wound disappeared and the best part about Donald casting Cure Magic was, unlike Gabby, he didn't experience Magic exhaustion, for he was a Court Magician…a pretty damn good one, to boot.

"Thanks, Donald…" Gabby said, smiling. "You're the best!"

Donald nodded his head firmly. "That's right!"

"Will you get along with Sora?" she asked hopefully.

"Not a chance!" Donald quickly replied.

Gabby narrowed her eyes and huffed. "Figures…Hey, Sora! Ya need any help down there?"

Sora yelped as he barely dodged the Heartless's tongue. It was at this moment that Gabby had called out to him. He looked up and narrowed his eyes. "What do you think?"

"I think you're doing fine," Gabby remarked.

Sora scowled and turned his attention to the Heartless. He didn't need her commentary! That thing still wanted to eat him!

"_Yet another thing to add to my nightmare list!" _Sora thought as he quickly casted Blizzard in retaliation to the Heartless's attack. "Eat ice, you reptilian bastard!" (10)

The Heartless did not take too well to this attack and let out yet another warbled, high-pitched cry. The Heartless shook itself and focused its gaze on Sora. Its eyes began to glow brightly. Then, it stood upright and lunged forward, its eyes shooting out a laser that homed in on Sora.

Sora let out an exclamation and quickly rolled out of the way of the lasers. He only managed to avoid one, as it hit the ground. However, Sora wasn't as fortunate with the second laser and was hit. The pain stunned him slightly, leaving him immobilized on the ground.

The Heartless looked at Sora and let out a rather content, high-pitched warbling cry. It got back on all fours and lunged at Sora. Sora was vulnerable and it liked it when Sora was like this… Sora wasn't a pest and very easy prey…the voice also seemed pleased with this.

_**Do not hold back…**_

It never was in the first place… The Heartless was not merciful, in fact, it knew nothing of the word…just that Sora was to be destroyed. That it could do…

Though, much to the Heartless's annoyance, Tarzan swung down and picked Sora off the ground by the back of his belt. The Heartless focused its attention on Tarzan and clicked its tongue in annoyance.

Sora blinked and shook his head, his gaze falling back on the Heartless. He could tell the Heartless was annoyed…good. Grinning, Sora stuck his tongue out at the Heartless and earned an offended, high-pitched warbled cry in response.

Sora laughed. "Ahahaha…I am _so_ dead…"

But it was _**so**_ worth it…at least in Sora's opinion. Sora's eyes widened as he felt himself suddenly thrown forward by Tarzan. Sora quickly reacted and grabbed onto the closest thing he passed, which just so happened to be a vine and not just any vine, but the vine Donald was holding onto.

Donald narrowed his eyes at Sora. "Hey! Get your own vine!"

"Make me!" Sora retorted as he glared at Donald.

Gabby narrowed her eyes as she watched her teammates bicker from a nearby tree branch just above the two. She was getting sick of their relentless arguing and reluctance to admit it was both their faults. It was Sora's fault for pushing the button and knocking over the coffee mug, and it was also Donald's for being inconsiderate in the first place. Gabby cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Will you two quit fighting?" Gabby yelled out. "It's been almost three weeks, we've been living in a jungle since then, and of all the times you guys could argue, you pick the time we are fighting a giant, chameleon-like Heartless with a guy armed with a shotgun! You guys have the worst timing! Get over it before—LOOK OUT!"

Sora and Donald didn't have time to react to Gabby's exclamation. They didn't even have a chance to avoid Gabby as she dropped down and grabbed a hold of the vine they were hanging on, knocking them off in the process. Sora felt like yelling at Gabby as he hurtled downwards, as did Donald.

THUD!  
Well, they would have yelled, had they not landed on the ground, first. The landing was rough and painful, even more so since they landed on their backs. The pain left Sora dazed and managed to knock out Donald. Sora groaned as he looked up directly, his gaze focused on Gabby. He decided to yell at her later once his head stopped hurting.

"And Mama just iced it…" Sora muttered. "Wah…"

Sora blinked and sat up, shaking his head as he tried to snap out of his daze. He looked up and focused his gaze on Gabby again. There was something wrong with her…

"Gabby…?" he said.

Gabby didn't respond. She just kept her right hand gripped onto the vine tightly as she hunched over slightly. She had one arm clutching her stomach. Gabby stayed in this position for a few more seconds before slowly releasing her hold on the vine and falling back. She hurtled downwards headfirst and landed onto the ground with a sickening thud.

Sora felt his blood run cold as he stared at his friend's limp body. He quickly turned onto his stomach and crawled over to Gabby.

"Gabby…" he said, not caring that his voice cracked. "Gabby…are you okay?"

Gabby opened her eyes slightly and sat up, much to Sora's relief. His moment of relief was cut short as he watched Gabby cough into her hands. His eyes widened as he saw red trickling through her fingers and dripping onto his hoodie that she was wearing. She was coughing up blood…

Gabby removed her hands from her mouth, her eyes widening when she saw blood staining her hands. She stared wide-eyed at the blood as it dripped down her hands. (11)

"Wha…wa…" Gabby was speechless, unable to find the right words to say. Panic was beginning to overwhelm her. Her breathing quickened and her body trembled. Never before in her life had Gabby ever been _this_ afraid for her own life.

Gabby looked at Sora, her eyes wide. "So…ra?"

Sora was taken aback with the look in Gabby's eyes as she stared at him. He felt his heart nearly stop as he watched Gabby cough into her hands again. More blood dripped down her hands…

Sora blinked, his eyes focusing on the hoodie Gabby was wearing. There was a huge bloodstain on it, right where the left side of Gabby's stomach was. Upon closer inspection, Sora found a small, circular-shaped hole within the bloody area. It took Sora a few seconds to put two and two together as he realized what happened.

It was at that moment that Tarzan swung down on a vine and landed right next to Sora and Gabby. Tarzan looked at Gabby and then at Sora.

Sora looked at Tarzan, his expression stern. "Clayton…"

Tarzan blinked and imitated the sound of a gunshot. Sora nodded and directed Tarzan's attention on Gabby.

"This is what Clayton did…" Sora explained as he referred to the wound in Gabby's stomach.

What had happened was Gabby had gotten shot by Clayton. Clayton was aiming for Sora and Donald (either one of them) while they were distracted with their arguing. Gabby had noticed this a little too late when she was reprimanding the two for their feuding. Unable to warn her friends in time, Gabby jumped down and knocked Sora and Donald off the vine. At the same time, Clayton had pulled the trigger and the result…Gabby had taken a bullet for Sora and Donald…quite literally.

Sora didn't know what to make of this since he had not much knowledge of bullet wounds, injuries, and such… That was to be discussed next semester after summer vacation in school! Destiny Islands was gone…and if anything, there was no summer vacation for Sora. He was out on an adventure looking for his friends!

Sora came to a conclusion at this current moment that his life was definitely sucking… He would definitely joke about this later, but that's assuming Gabby wasn't _dying_ from that bullet wound. Wait, that just reminded Sora…

"Gabby!" he exclaimed. "Don't go into the light!"

Gabby blinked as she looked at Sora, her eyes widening as she realized her situation. "What? I'm gonna die?"

Sora placed his hands on his head. "I don't know…I really don't know…just don't panic…"

"Sora, I'm starting to feel pain…is that good?" Gabby asked as she clutched her stomach.

Sora stuttered. "Uh, um…I would have worried if you didn't feel anything, but that might just be because of adrenaline, but aside from that…pain is good! At least you feel something…"

"Joy…" Gabby said dryly before keeling over onto the ground.

Sora flailed his arms around and looked over Gabby. "Don't die!"

Gabby clenched her teeth as she looked at Sora. "I'm not dying you idiot… I'm just in… immense, internal _pain_…"

No words could describe the pain Gabby was feeling… It felt like something had pierced through her—wait, it did…hold on!

"Sora…can you check my back?" Gabby asked.

Sora blinked. "Why?"

Gabby narrowed her eyes as she sighed. "I need…to know if I have something there…"

Sora blinked again and nodded. "Okay…whoa…I think the bullet went through! Is that good?"

"I…don't know…" Gabby replied, coughing afterwards. "At least the bullet's not inside…"

"But you're coughing up blood!" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby turned over onto her stomach and got on all fours. "Ugh…I've had worse…"

Sora narrowed his eyes. "You lie—Gabby, this is no time for a _Monty Python_ joke!" (12)

Gabby chuckled and looked at Sora, her face somewhat strained. "Well, can't blame me for trying."

Sora resisted the urge to yell, instead, he just face-palmed. "At least you didn't lose an arm…"

"_**I'm rather surprised with how shockingly calm to knowing your friend got shot…" **_remarked Blondie.

Sora removed his hand from his face. "Oh, I'm not…I'm just…trying to refrain from panicking…"

"_**That's good…"**_ said Blondie. _**"I suggest you try practicing Cure now…do you remember the proceedings for Black Mages?"**_

Sora scowled. "I don't have the time to practice! Do you have any idea how long it took Lulu to learn Cure? It's not like a White Mage learning Black Magic…Cure works differently!"

"_**I was referring to emotional motivation,"**_ Blondie deadpanned. _**"Magic is sensitive to emotions and has a tendency to flare up in response to them… The herbs you've absorbed are also sensitive to your emotions, and will react much more effectively to your Magic when flared up from emotions. Remember?"**_

Sora blinked a few times and looked down. "Oh…"

Up until now, it had occurred to Sora that he had forgotten all about the connections between Magic and emotions.

"_**So…are you going to try?"**_ asked Blondie.

Sora turned to Gabby and nodded. "Yeah…might as well…"

…

"Who are you talking to, Sora?" asked Gabby.

"Oh, just some strange voice in my head," Sora replied in a somewhat casual manner. (13)

Gabby stared blankly at Sora. "What?"

"That's not important…" Sora said quickly. "I'm gonna attempt to use Cure on you!"

Gabby blinked a few times and smiled nervously. "Uh, why don't you let me use Cure on myself—better yet, let's get Donald or Tarzan to do it."

Sora refrained from flinching at Gabby's suggestion. Gabby was unaware that what she said actually hurt Sora… It was almost as if she didn't trust him—

"_Oh…"_ he thought. _"I see…"_

Sora had yet to trust his partner completely, he did, but to a small extent. He still had his doubts, but he was slowly coming around. Knowing that Gabby didn't trust him, either, actually hurt… It had occurred to Sora that this pain is what Gabby probably felt when she knew Sora didn't trust her.

_"Is this how I am to her?"_ Sora thought as he looked at Gabby.

"_I'm sad to say this, but yes…" _replied Lady. _"She's used to it, ya know… That's why it's not surprising to her…"_

Sora looked down. _"I never knew it hurt this badly…"_

"_She's always trusted you…just not now…"_ replied Lady. _"I guess that's why it hurts so much…so, what are you going to do? Are you going to give up, or be like her and be assertive about doing something? That's what she always does! Now choose wisely!"_

…

…

Sora sighed and looked at Gabby. He wasn't going to give up…he was going to do something. His friend was hurt and he didn't give a damn if she didn't want his help…

"Gabby, just let me do it…please…" he said. "I'm sorry…"

Gabby bit her lip and turned to Tarzan…only to find him gone.

…

Tarzan had left Sora and Gabby earlier to go after Clayton and the Heartless. He was mad about Clayton hurting his friend and wanted to do something about it. What he didn't expect to find when he came across the Heartless was to see it distracted by a figure dressed in white clothing.

Tarzan watched the scene before him. The chameleon-like Heartless had his gaze focused on the figure in white as it danced around him. The Heartless was enthralled by the figure's antics. Tarzan moved around to get a better look at the figure in white and discovered that it was also a Heartless, though it had a more feminine-looking physique.

Tarzan didn't know what to make of the scene as he had seen other Heartless before and they always attacked him and his friends, but this Heartless… She was different…

…

Sora inhaled and exhaled as he had his hand on Gabby's stomach, right where she had been shot. Gabby had finally let Sora try his best at his attempt at using Cure Magic. So far, Sora had failed at casting Cure in the past five minutes he had been trying. His hand was stained with blood, but he would deal with that later, and Gabby was starting to feel dizzy, most likely from blood loss.

"Sora…I think I'm blacking out…" she said.

Sora's eyes widened. "Oh, god NO! Don't go into the light! Mother, guide me, CURE!"

Gabby inhaled deeply as Sora exhaled, almost as if Sora had breathed into her. A flash of green light with two rotating balls of light then appeared over Gabby's head. Gabby blinked as she felt a soothing sensation in her abdomen and back. (14)

Sora stared at Gabby, wide-eyed. By a miraculous stroke of luck, Sora he managed to cast Cure successfully. Though, to make sure, Sora checked the bullet wound on Gabby's stomach by unzipping the hoodie she wore. This earned him a slap in response as, in his haste, Sora forgot the reason why he even loaned Gabby his hoodie in the first place.

He had managed to at least confirm the bullet wound on Gabby's stomach completely healed. However, the wound left Gabby scarred. The scar was faint, barely even noticeable, but _definitely_ there…if you looked hard enough, which is why Gabby slapped Sora. She slapped him again when she remembered why she was even wearing his hoodie.

Despite being slapped and left red-cheeked, Sora was happy. He not only casted Cure successfully, but he had also healed his friend. At least now, he was able to watch his partner's back more efficiently—oh, god.

Sora hunched over and dropped onto the ground. "Ugh…I feel tired…"

Gabby looked at Sora and sighed. "This is why I wanted to heal myself…and thought it was a better idea to have Donald or Tarzan do it—where is Tarzan?"

At that moment, Tarzan dropped down next to Sora. He looked at his surroundings carefully as he took out a small, corked jar with a hexagonal-shaped blue substance inside. Finding the area safe…for the moment, Tarzan uncorked the jar and threw it up into the air. Almost at once, blue substance in the form of a numerous bubbles fell over Sora, Gabby, Tarzan, and Donald's heads.

This brought Donald back to consciousness and snapped Sora out of his exhausted state. Tarzan and Gabby felt no effect from the substance, except for a small energy boost, but not much. Donald sat up and shook his head as he tried to recollect his memories before blacking out. Sora got off the ground, feeling oddly revitalized.

"What just happened?" he asked.

Gabby smiled and turned to Tarzan. "Tarzan had a Mega-Ether!"

"Oh…thank you, Tarzan…" said Sora. "Hold on…if we're all here…who's fighting the Heartless and Clayton?"

Sora, Gabby, and Donald (having overheard) looked at each other somewhat nervously. They turned their attention to Tarzan, whom directed them towards the chameleon-like Heartless, who was currently watching a figure in white dance around him. Donald, Sora, and Gabby were stunned.

"Whoa…" said Gabby.

"What is going on?" asked Donald.

Sora blinked and looked closely at the figure in white. "Is that Mama?"

…

Mama had come across the fight and decided to intervene when Gabby had gotten shot. She had kept the reptilian Heartless in place with a simple, attention-grabbing dance. What surprised her the most was that her plan to distract the Heartless with a dance actually worked. She had a feeling it had to do what she was…

_**Stop this at once… You are betraying your brethren…**_

Mama narrowed her yellow eyes. She didn't give a crap if she was betraying her own kind…she was _still_ not going to listen to the voice in her head.

_**You shall be punished heavily if you keep this up…**_

"_So be it…"_ thought Mama. _"At least this makes me less the monster I really am…"_

_**Fool…**_

Mama could care less about the names she was called…except for the one Sora had given her. She liked that name…

BANG!

CRACK!

Mama froze as she stared at the crystal ball in front of her face. She could see a small, crack in it from the bullet it just blocked. Immediately, Mama looked around at her surroundings. Her gaze focused in on the hunter standing on top of a tree branch, his shotgun aimed at her. It was Clayton…

Clayton didn't like Mama…he found her an annoyance, especially since she kept the other Heartless distracted when it should be doing something else. It should be destroying the boy… Clayton didn't expect Mama to have her own barrier to block off his bullets, so his attempt to destroy her was a bust.

However, it did leave Mama open and, the next thing she knew, she was staring directly into the chameleon-like Heartless's face as it used its tongue to hold her up to its face. Mama blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes. She took a quick look around the area and, after seeing Sora and the rest doing fine, decided to do the next best thing…

Mama held her palm next to her mouth and blew into it in. It was almost as if she had been blowing a kiss at the Heartless, only instead of kisses, they were heart-shaped ice-crystals. The ice-crystals hit the Heartless directly in the face and caused him severe discomfort, causing him to release Mama in response as he entered a state of vulnerability.

Mama quickly took this chance to escape, but not before at least catching the attention of Sora and the group. She called out to them, which sounded more like a loud hissing sound instead of anything. Sometimes it really did suck to be a Heartless with only one-known source of communication, which involved hissing and some other forms of sounds. Despite this, she had managed to at least catch the attention of the group. After waving at them quickly, Mama snapped her fingers and disappeared in a vortex.

Her work had been done…

…

"Was that Mama?" asked Gabby.

"I think that was…" said Sora. "What was she doing?"

Donald clenched his fists and stamped his foot onto the ground. "Who cares? We have a Heartless to defeat, remember?"

Gabby nodded her head. "Donald's right, we have to—what?"

Gabby blinked as she stared at Sora, who had his outstretched arm in front of her. Sora looked at Gabby, his expression stern.

"You're not going anywhere…" he said. "You're staying behind with Tarzan…"

Gabby scowled at Sora. "Why?"

"Because you got shot!" snapped Sora. "I may have used Cure successfully on you and healed you, but that doesn't mean you're completely healed! It takes time for injuries that have impaled the body to completely heal. If not left to recover correctly, wounds will reopen… You've lost a lot of blood, Gabby… Your body's self-regeneration needs time to replace lost blood, which can't be done if you're wound reopens."

Self-regeneration was the body's built in factor that kicks in when the body experiences severe trauma of some sort, usually blood loss. It was more effective when Cure Magic or healing items had been used. It also worked on its own without the use of items and Magic, but not as quickly. Self-regeneration only worked when open wounds were healed or clotted, otherwise it wouldn't work and the victim experiencing blood loss could die without treatment. (15)

* * *

A/N See small note at the end of the chapter for a better explanation and another installment of fanfic Biology made especially for this KH story.

* * *

Gabby stared at Sora sternly for a few moments before sighing. He had her stumped…there was nothing she could do. She needed to heal…

"Fine…" she sighed. "You win…"

Sora nodded his head firmly and turned to Tarzan. "Tarzan…keep Gabby out of the way."

Tarzan nodded and turned to Gabby. He knelt down and allowed Gabby to climb onto his back before he stood up. Afterwards, he turned to Sora and Donald. Gabby looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"I guess this means you two are going to _have_ to get along, now!" she chirped. "Let's go, Tarzan!"

Tarzan grunted in response and walked over to the nearest vine. He then climbed up the vine, leaving Sora and Donald to process what had just been told to them. It took them a full minute to realize the meaning of it.

"WHAT?" they exclaimed.

* * *

…

Gabby laughed as she looked down at the two. At least now, they were going to get along…whether they wanted to or not.

…

* * *

Sora and Donald glared at each other, but their stare-down was cut short as the Heartless let out a high-pitched, warbled cry. The two immediately turned their attention to the Heartless. The Heartless's eyes were glowing as its body began to disappear.

Sora's eyes widened. "Oh, crap!"

The Heartless turned completely invisible, save for its glowing eyes. Its glowing eyes then shot out lasers that homed in on Donald and Sora. The two were able to dodge the lasers successfully, but now the Heartless was invisible in an area where its shadow could be faintly seen.

The Heartless had the advantage with its stealth and was now able to sneak around more effectively…

"Hey, Donald…what do you make of this Heartless?" asked Sora.

Donald diverted his eyes on Sora as he held his staff up. "Stealthy and sneaky…"

Sora blinked a few times. "Huh…all right, then… I'm calling this Heartless, Stealth Sneak."

Donald lowered his staff and narrowed his eyes at Sora. "And what does this have to do with fighting this Heartless?"

"It doesn't…I just thought it needed a name since the last Heartless me and Gabby fought was called the Trickmaster," replied Sora. "And—MOVE, LASERS!"

Sora and Donald both responded quickly enough to dodge yet another pair of lasers that homed in on them. An annoyed, high-pitched warbled cry caught Sora's ear. Immediately, he turned around and scouted the area.

"Where are you, you reptilian bastard?" Sora asked as he carefully looked around. His eyes widened as he felt something wrap around himself. "Not again—waugh!"

Sora struggled as he was dragged away from Donald. Donald ran after Sora, his anger towards the boy now replaced with concern. For this moment only, Donald forgot why he was even mad at Sora in the first place.

Donald readied his staff and aimed it at where Sora was being dragged. He channeled all his Magic to his staff and hoped for a precise, successful casting of this spell as he held up his staff.

"THUNDER!" he exclaimed. (16)

Sora blinked as he noticed the area darkened significantly. The next thing he knew, he felt immense pain coursing through his body as bolts of lightning rained down the area, one of which happened to strike him.

"WAAAUUGGGH!" he yelled.

Sora wasn't the only one who had been hit. The Stealth Sneak let out a pain, warbled cry as its invisibility wore off and dropped Sora onto the ground. The Stealth Sneak then dropped onto the ground with a loud 'thud' as it blacked out. Two stars then began to encircle the area above the Stealth Sneak's head.

The next victim of Donald's Thunder was, by chance, Clayton. Clayton experienced his share of very shocking pain, no thanks to the upward position he held his shotgun on whilst keeping his finger on the trigger. Dazed, he then promptly fell off the tree branch and landed right onto the ground…hard.

THUD!

Donald also experienced his share of the pain, which was quite surprising as he got struck by his own spell. Only Tarzan and Gabby had been spared from this rather wacky casting of Thunder…

* * *

"Is that supposed to happen?" asked Gabby.

Donald was a Court Magician…he was _supposed_ to have mastered all the spells. If that was the case, then Gabby had no idea just why Donald pretty much casted a spell that struck him and Sora, when his target was supposed to be the Heartless?

Just then, Jiminy popped out of the hoodie. "Uh, if you're wondering…Donald never did well casting Thunder."

Gabby blinked as she looked at Jiminy, who was on her shoulder. "Why did you leave this piece of crucial information until the last minute?"

"Truth be told, I didn't think this was what Daisy meant," Jiminy replied as he looked through his journal. "I thought she meant he wasn't able to cast Thunder…"

"Oh…well, does that mean we're in trouble if Donald casts Thunder?" asked Gabby.

Jiminy jotted down a few more words in his journal. "I believe so…I think the only reason we avoided getting struck is because we're not wearing too much metal."

"We are also out of range of a Thunder spell…" Gabby remarked. "It's Thundara and Thundaga we should worry about…"

Jiminy diverted his eyes on Gabby. "Is that so?"

Gabby nodded. "Yeah, Lulu told me about the range of Thunder Magic…and, like Cure, it also has different forms." (17)

…

* * *

Sora blinked a few times and shook his head. He still felt a tingling sensation over his body…no thanks to Donald's Thunder! Sora scowled at Donald.

"What was that for?" he exclaimed.

Donald snapped out of his daze and turned to Sora. "It got that Heartless to drop you, didn't it?"

…

…

"I guess…" Sora said reluctantly. "But did you have to hit me?"

"You're not the only one who got hit!" snapped Donald.

Sora blinked a few times and noticed that Donald's feathers were singed at some places. Donald also got hit, meaning…

"You can't control Thunder?" asked Sora. "But I thought you were a Court Magician?"

Donald turned away from Sora and crossed his arms. He huffed angrily as his feathers puffed out slightly. Sora frowned and walked over to Donald.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Donald diverted his eyes to the side. He wasn't…but Donald wasn't about to openly admit it. He was too proud, too…ashamed. The fact that he couldn't control Thunder was a blemish to his status as his world's Court Magician. He was supposed to have mastered all the spells, which he did save for that one spell he couldn't control…

The very same spell he always managed to hurt his friends with, accidentally. King Mickey and Queen Minnie were very forgiving, as was Goofy, but Goofy was Goofy, he never held grudges unless otherwise. Daisy, on the other hand…she never held it against Donald once she figured out his problem. However, it was something Donald could never live down, even now, he had yet to master his control of the spell…he was even getting hit by his own spell, too. (18)

If Donald were to ever tell Sora about this…Donald would never hear the end of it. Not after the way he had been towards Sora…Gabby had been right. He should have just let it go when he and Sora were reunited…

"Donald…it's okay…" Sora said reassuringly. "You don't have to get worked up over one spell you can't control—"

Donald scowled and looked at Sora directly in the eye. "It is not okay! I'm supposed to have mastered all the spells, but I haven't! All because of that stupid spell…"

Donald looked down, his expression saddening as he sighed. There was no use hiding it anymore…Sora figured it out. He knew…

"So what?" asked Sora. "Look at me… I mean, I'm barely turning fourteen in a couple of months and I know only three spells, which I have just recently learned not that long ago. I'm a fighter, but I lack the efficient endurance and strength to last on my own, just ask Leon about my battle with him! I can't even trust my own partner! I'm not exactly the person anyone would expect to find under orders from your King to look for a 'key'…yet, here I am."

Donald arched his brow at Sora. "And just what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that everyone has flaws!" explained Sora. "Nobody's perfect! Gabby can't wield a sword with a decent reach without it overthrowing her balance due to her short height! I'm still inexperienced and have issues trusting anyone since losing my world! I can't even admit that it was in fact my fault that we even ended up in this world!"

There…he finally said it… Sora finally admitted that it was his fault… It took him nearly three weeks to say it…now that just only left one thing to say…

After swallowing his pride, Sora finally said, "I'm sorry…"

Donald looked at Sora, somewhat stunned with his apology. "Wha?"

BANG!

Sora screamed as he felt an excruciating pain in his upper area of his right arm. He dropped onto his knees and clutched his throbbing, upper arm. The pain was unbearable…

"Sora!" exclaimed Donald.

Sora looked at Donald, who was now at his side. Donald looked over at Sora, his gaze focusing in on Sora's right arm. Sora turned his attention to his arm and removed his hand. Donald's eyes widened when he saw blood pouring out of a hole in Sora's arm. Sora had been shot…

Donald's first immediate response was to look around. His gaze focused on Clayton, who was standing next to a tree, reloading his shotgun. Donald scowled at Clayton, his anger flaring up at the mere sight of the man. Clayton had shot Sora…he had _shot_ Sora…

Donald was not going to let this slide easily… Clayton was going to pay… Donald held his staff tightly in his right hand and charged directly towards Clayton.

"WAA-AAA-AAKKK!" he yelled angrily.

…

Clayton had just about finished reloading his gun when he heard Donald's shriek. He looked up, his eyes widening slightly as he saw Donald charging towards him. Immediately, Clayton tried to aim his shotgun at Donald, but Donald was too quick for him. Donald head-butted Clayton in the stomach and pushed him back into the tree.

Clayton felt the wind knocked out of himself and nearly lost his footing had it not been for the tree. Donald tried to whack Clayton with his staff, but Clayton dodged and fled. This did not bode well for Donald.

"FIRE!" shrieked Donald.

A fireball shot out of Donald's staff and homed in on Clayton. Clayton had almost made it to the Stealth Sneak when the fireball hit him. The fireball burst into flames upon impact with Clayton, causing the hunter excruciating, searing hot pain. Clayton gasped in pain as he reached into his pocket. He struggled to pull out a small, corked jar filled with a star-shaped green substance. He quickly uncorked the jar and threw it up into the air.

A bubble dropped fell over Clayton's head. It burst into small, glowing green leaves that encircled him. The pain immediately diminished and he felt revitalized. Clayton then held up his shotgun and aimed at Donald at first, but then changed his target.

…

Sora was gasping in pain as he clutched his arm. The pain kept him distracted and vulnerable, leaving him open for attack… Clayton decided to use this chance to his advantage. He would take care of Donald after he was done with Sora…

Donald stared wide-eyed at Clayton as he aimed at Sora. How could he be so stupid? He forgot to heal Sora and left him alone! He had to do something quick before Clayton pulled the trigger…but how? Even if he did cast Fire or Thunder, there was a chance that Clayton could still pull the trigger.

Fortunately, for Donald, Gabby decided to intervene at this moment and swung on a couple of vines before dropping down directly on Clayton.

BANG!

THUD!

Sora blinked and turned his attention to Clayton. He cursed mentally when he saw Gabby was on Clayton. Sora clenched his teeth and tried his hardest to stand up. After a full minute, Sora managed to succeed. He huffed and puffed, somewhat exhausted and very much in pain from the bullet in his arm.

Sora shook his head and ran over to Clayton and Gabby. Clayton better hope that he didn't shoot Gabby again, otherwise Sora was going to _hurt_ him…

"Gabby!" he exclaimed.

Gabby groaned as she rolled off of Clayton. She clutched her stomach as she got off the ground and stood up. That was the last time she ever landed on someone with a gun! She landed right on it…stomach first. It was rather painful and—actually, it was more painful than it should have been. Gabby shook her head and made her way over to Sora. She would deal with the pain later—

"Gabby, I think you're bleeding!" exclaimed Sora.

Gabby blinked and looked at her hand as she removed it off of her stomach. She grimaced at the blood staining her hand. Suddenly, she coughed up blood.

"Dammit…not this again…" she said. "I think I reopened my wounds…gah…"

Well, that might have explained why landing on Clayton was much more painful than it should have been…

Sora seemed oddly relieved…and he had reason to! "Oh, for a minute…I almost thought Clayton shot you again."

"You two are seriously going to be the death of me…" complained a voice.

Sora and Gabby turned to see that it was Donald. Donald was trying to calm his pounding heart. For a minute, he almost thought he was going to lose Sora…

_Click!_

Sora, Donald, and Gabby froze, their eyes slowly diverting to the side. From out of the corner of their eyes, they could see Clayton aiming his shotgun on them. Clayton was enraged with the trio, but more towards Gabby at the moment. He adjusted his aim on Gabby, the shotgun's barrel aimed at her heart.

Sora and Donald glared at Clayton. This earned them a rather amused, malicious laugh from Clayton. However, Clayton's laughter ceased when he noticed the shocked looks on Sora, Gabby, and Donald's faces.

Unbeknownst to Clayton, the Stealth Sneak was approaching him. When Clayton had pulled the trigger due to Gabby landing on him, the misaimed bullet actually hit the Stealth Sneak in the eye and roused it from its unconscious state. The Stealth Sneak had been slowly making its way over to Clayton since its awakening.

Once it was behind Clayton, the Stealth Sneak slowly stood up on its hind legs. Its body began to shimmer and glow, strings of what looked like electricity flying over the surface of its scaly skin. The camouflage effect on its body flickered on and off, almost like a light bulb. One moment it was invisible, and the next, it was visible once more.

The Stealth Sneak's entire body was shaking violently as it tried to stand, its eyes rolling upward and looking toward the sky. It let out a weak and exhausted warble, which Clayton heard. Ever so slowly, Clayton lowered his shotgun and turned around to look at the Stealth Sneak.

The Stealth Sneak dropped its gaze and stared at Clayton. Its vision blurred as it took a few steps toward him. The monster groaned and warbled wearily, as its hind legs slowly gave in to its exhaustion.

Clayton screamed in horror as the Stealth Sneak's gargantuan body fell on top of him, crushing the hunter beneath it. Sora, Gabby, and Donald were quite fortunate to avoid this fate as Tarzan had managed to push all three of them out of the way of the falling Heartless.

The ground shook violently with the impact. Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Tarzan kept their gaze on the Heartless and Clayton, who lied beneath its body. For a while, everything was still.

Then a small part of the Stealth Sneak's body began to glimmer with a bright light. Rays of white light pierced throughout its body and glowed brilliantly as a large, glowing heart emerged from within the Heartless. The large, glowing heart began to drift skyward before disappearing completely within a few moments. The Stealth Sneak's body then shone brilliantly before slowly fading away, a series of small, twinkling lights winking out one by one.

All was quiet until loud hoots, howls, and grunts shattered the silence. Sora, Donald, Gabby, and Tarzan looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. It came from the gorillas, whom had all watched the battle from the trees and on the ground near the stonewall. Howls of victory and pride echoed up from within their bodies and soared throughout the jungle. The gorillas whooped and cheered, thumping their fists on whatever they stood on, in explosive celebration.

The group looked at the gorillas in awe. After a few moments, a certain silverback walked forward towards the group. Tarzan inhaled and stepped forward to speak with Kerchak.

…

…

"Kerchak?" said Tarzan.

Kerchak looked at Sora, Donald, and Gabby. "These strangers…they are not like him."

"They aren't…" remarked Tarzan. "Kerchak…please, let me show them the way. They mean no harm… Look at them, they risked their lives to protect the group."

…

…

"Kerchak, please…" Tarzan pleaded, his eyes wide. "We can trust them…"

Kerchak closed his eyes and sighed. After a moment's thought, he opened his eyes and looked at Tarzan.

"Very well," he said.

Tarzan's expression lightened up as he smiled. "Thank you!"

"Do not make me regret this decision," Kerchak said sternly.

Tarzan nodded. "I won't…"

Kerchak grunted and turned away from Tarzan. He made his way back to the gorillas, leaving Tarzan and the rest behind.

…

…

Donald held up his staff and loudly exclaimed, "CURAGA!" (19)

Four large, yellow bell-shaped flowers appeared over Sora and Gabby, showering them with a golden light. Sora felt a tingling sensation in his arm and looked at his arm. He removed his hand, his eyes widening slightly as he watched a bullet being pushed out of his arm. Unlike Gabby, the bullet Sora had been shot with didn't exactly go through…it stayed in him.

With the bullet out of his arm, Sora began to feel a soothing sensation in his arm as the bullet wound healed. What was left of the hole in his arm was now a faint scar. It was barely noticeable, but definitely there…just like the one on Gabby's stomach. Gabby coughed up a small amount of blood before finally breathing in smoothly. She exhaled and felt the pain in her stomach wane.

After a few moments, both Sora and Gabby were healed. However, both of them still had to be careful until their self-regeneration healed up their wounds completely. Sora and Gabby had to regain some lost blood and their wounds still had the potential to reopen. Despite this, the two were just glad they finally stopped bleeding, Donald was glad he didn't lose any of his friends, and Tarzan was glad that he had finally regained his lost trust with Kerchak.

…

* * *

…

Goofy looked around the clearing in the bamboo thicket carefully. Finding no threat whatsoever in the vicinity, Goofy waved his arm and signaled Jane to come out of her hiding spot. After some persuasion, Goofy had finally given in to Jane's inability to stay at the campsite. He was now escorting her and Terk in the direction they had heard the commotion come from.

After a few more minutes, Goofy, Jane, and Terk came to a stop at an area closed off by cliffs of dirt and rock. There was a large opening in one of the stonewalls, almost as if something had crashed through it. The three of them looked around the area and waited a few moments before they spotted Tarzan, Sora, Gabby, and Donald climb down a vine.

"Tarzan!" exclaimed Jane.

Tarzan looked at Jane, perplexed. He thought she had been back at the campsite, but here she was, with Terk. It didn't matter anymore, though…he and his friends had exterminated the threat, so there was nothing else to worry about now. He could even show her what he was going to show his friends.

"Jane, follow…" he said.

Jane turned to Sora. "Where are we going?"

Sora shrugged. "We're just following Tarzan…I guess he wants you to go along, so let's go."

Jane nodded and she, like the others, followed Tarzan. Tarzan led the group through the opening the Stealth Sneak had made when it crashed through a stonewall earlier, and up another stonewall covered in vegetation. They had ended up on a plateau overlooking a wide, blue river. There were two large, roaring waterfalls to the left, separated by a portion of protruding cliff. The tops of waterfalls were covered in rich green foliage and vines.

The water turned a foamy white as it tumbled from the top of the cliff and plunged into the deep, still blue river. There was a fine mist floating around the waterfalls, diminishing only when it reached the air.

"This is _beautiful_," Jane breathed as she took in the scenery.

Sora nodded, his eyes wide in awe. "You can say _that _again."

Tarzan shut his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose as he faced the area. He then glanced over at the others.

"Follow…Tarzan," he said as he turned on his heel.

Tarzan directed the group into a tunnel that led to a cavern just behind the waterfall. The entire right side of the cavern was slightly open, so they could peer out from within the cliff at the beautiful scenery. By the time they got to be directly behind the waterfalls, the wall was completely opened up, and the cave expanded from a narrow tunnel into a large cavern. Everything was tinted blue…the rocks, the moss, and even _they _had been draped in a blue tint.

The waterfalls roared in their ears as the water spilled onto the already wet, cavern floor. They had to be careful where they stepped lest they slip on a patch of moss and get caught in the waterfalls themselves. This almost happened to Sora, had it not been for Tarzan's quick thinking.

There was even water gushing out from cracks in the rock walls, creating smaller, less forceful waterfalls as they tumbled over the layers of rock. All of the water eventually spilled out into the main waterfall.

Tarzan led the way, holding Jane's hand as they climbed up the layers of rock carefully, making their way to the top. They had to jump up to reach some of the ledges, or press their backs to the wall as they slowly shuffled along a smaller ledge.

By chance, there happened to be several patches of climbable ivy on the walls. The only downside to that was the fact that these growths of ivy were situated in high places with nothing soft below them. So falling was going to be painful…luckily, nobody lost their grip.

Once they had reached the top, Tarzan led everyone deeper into the cavern. They walked through a long, dark tunnel that had a small glimmer of light at the very end. They hurried through the darkness to reach that light. The light just so happened to be within another beautiful, cavern.

This new cavern was, for the most part, a circular area. It was closed off by layer upon layer of moss-grown slabs of stone. There was a large tree protruding from the side, straight ahead of them. Its surface was completely covered in moss and vines, making it seem like the tree's bark was green colored. In a spot just over the tree's roots was a bright blue light. The light seemed to be alive, glowing brilliantly for a moment and then fading ever so slightly, as though it were breathing and beating…like a heart.

The group entered the cavern carefully, glancing around their surroundings in awe of its simplistic, primitive beauty. What had Sora and Gabby hooked, however, was the ebbing blue light on the tree. The two stared at it, captivated by the sight. Tarzan was staring at it as well.

"Tarzan, home…" he said. "*&&X%."

Sora looked at Tarzan, confused. "This is your _home_? But that means…"

Tarzan straightened himself slightly and raised one hand in the air, a gesture for Sora to be quiet. He then cupped his hand over his ear and slowly shut his eyes. Everyone fell silent and listened.

A faint rumbling noise could be heard, echoing through the caverns. The sound was bouncing off of the rocks and stones, whisking gently through the air until it reached someone's ears. Goofy gasped softly as he listened, surprised to hear the noise. He was even more surprised to find that he could recognize the sound.

"Huh?"

Jane smiled slightly, amazed. "The waterfalls... They're echoing all the way _here._"

The sound was relaxing and added to the ambiance of beauty the cavern had.

"*&&X%," Tarzan said again. "Friends there…See friends."

Sora frowned. He still had no clue what the word meant…however, his frowning ceased as he turned to Jane, confused as he heard her laugh.

"Oh, _now _I've got it," Jane laughed. "'*&&X%' means '_heart_'… Friends in our hearts…"

Tarzan glanced at Jane and then strained his throat to copy her. "Huh… Heart…"

Sora's eyes widened as he realized something that he thought he should have figured out much earlier. Every time Tarzan had said that word, he always had his hands to his chest… When Sora told Tarzan of the word, "Friends", Sora had his hands on his chest. Tarzan had been trying to tell Sora all this time that his friends were in his heart…

"Oh," he murmured, frowning afterwards. "So _that's _what it meant…"

"Friends, same heart," continued Tarzan. "Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends… No heart, no friends…"

Sora blinked and turned to Gabby when she placed her hand on his shoulder. She smiled at him reassuringly, trying her best to cheer her friend up. Sora inhaled deeply and managed to smile. He might have not found Riku or Kairi yet, but that didn't mean he should get worked up over it. There were still other worlds to explore and search…it was only a matter of time.

Sora glanced over at the others. Terk was saying something to Tarzan that he seemed to be listening to very carefully, while Jane watched them in silent reverie. Goofy was simply staring at the blue light, while Donald seemed to be lost in thought. Sora put one hand over his heart, shut his eyes, and let out a breath.

He was sure to find his friends soon. If what Tarzan had said was true, then his friends were right there in his heart. And it was important to have friends, and to never lose their friendship or trust.

That reminded Sora about his fight with Donald… He had apologized earlier to the Court Magician once he realized…Donald was just like him. Donald had flaws…just like he did, himself. Sora nodded and decided to apologize again, this time…without getting a bullet in his arm in response. Just as Sora turned to look at Donald, Donald turned to face him.

Sora chuckled slightly. "I really meant what I said back there… I'm sorry…sorry about everything I said, before."

Donald looked at Sora and sighed. "I'm sorry too."

Tarzan grunted as he tried to catch Sora and Donald's attention. The two turned to Tarzan and saw that he had his hand on Gabby's shoulder.

"Sorry to Gabby…" he said.

Donald and Sora frowned as they recalled the reason why even Gabby got shot in the first place was because of their arguing… They might have made up with each other, but what about Gabby?

"Gabby…we're sorry…" said Sora.

Donald nodded in agreement. "Yeah…we're sorry you got hurt."

Gabby smiled and shook her head. "That's okay…we're all here, right?"

"I guess…" Sora said, laughing.

Goofy was overjoyed. He laughed cheerfully, pulling Donald, Gabby, and Sora into a group hug. "Ah-hyuck! Yeah! All for one, huh?"

The group all then looked at the pulsating blue light. Sora stepped forward, entranced once again, and as he did so, he saw what the light was made of. It was a cluster of blue butterflies, all huddled together on the tree's trunk. They all seemed to be glowing as they flapped their wings slowly, their wings touching together for just a moment before they opened again, revealing the intricate blue design on the surface. It looked like there was a pair of round eyes staring out of the butterflies' wings.

Sora approached the tree trunk, stepping closer until he was only two feet away. Instantly, all of the butterflies dispersed, flapping their wings and fluttering away, up through the opening at the top of the cave to their freedom. Their wings were still glowing as they flew off, some of them circling Donald and Goofy, and others encircling Jane, Tarzan, and Terk. One of them landed on Gabby's face, covering her face almost like a mask of some sort. She laughed, causing the butterfly to flutter away.

Sora stood very still as the butterflies flew away. Something within him knew what he was looking for. Hidden beneath the cluster of beautiful blue butterflies was a keyhole, its edges glimmering a beautiful blue color.

Sora smiled slightly and summoned his Keyblade. He held it forward and raised it into the air, pointing the tip toward the center of the keyhole. His hand was immediately steadied as the Keyblade locked into place. The tip of the key began to glow brilliantly, bright streams of energy spiraling into its epicenter and compressing into the vessel. And once it was ready, a beam of blue light shot out of the tip of the Keyblade and struck the keyhole.

Upon impact, a series of intricate patterns began to appear on the surface of the tree. It glowed brightly as the blue color spread out. It started from just around the keyhole and spread until it had encompassed a large portion of the tree trunk. Gleams of blue light were magnetized immediately toward the keyhole, moving into it quickly. As all the blue lights began to wane, a loud clicking noise was heard. Then, the keyhole turned into glimmers of light and flickered out.

It was only then that something fell to the floor. Donald and Goofy leaned forward to look at it. It was another Gummi block, colored in shades of yellow and green. It was rounded on one side and shimmered brilliantly for just one moment.

"A Gummi!" exclaimed Donald.

"But it's sure not the king's," Goofy said sadly.

Donald hung his head for a moment before reaching down and picking it up. He tucked the Gummi block away and sighed heavily. He hadn't noticed that Terk had made her way toward him. Donald quacked in surprise when he saw her standing right next to her. The young gorilla nudged Donald gently in the side and smiled at him. The duck was confused.

Terk liked Donald…he had saved her, so she was very thankful of him. She wanted to thank him properly and so she did. Jane laughed softly as she watched Terk interact with Donald.

"I think somebody has a new admirer," she said teasingly.

Donald jumped in alarm. "Huh?"

Terk continued to stare contentedly at Donald. Donald still intrigued her… She found him very interesting. However, this was taken the wrong way for Donald. The Court Magician looked wide-eyed at Terk, then at Sora, Gabby, Goofy, Tarzan, and Jane. He shook his head vigorously from side to side and waved his hands frantically in the air in front of him as a gesture of refusal.

"No, no, no, _no_!" he exclaimed in protest. "Daisy would _kill _me!"

Everyone burst out into laughter, Goofy releasing a few rounds of his trademark chuckle. Donald let out a long, frustrated breath before pulling his cap over his eyes. He sank to the floor and moaned. Terk blinked owlishly and turned to Tarzan. Tarzan shrugged… Both he and Terk had no clue why they were laughing… (20)

* * *

…

Elsewhere,

Within a poorly lit room, the same group of sinister-looking people gathered around the table. The only source of light came from a skylight in the high, arched ceiling. What little of it was cast was just enough to create outlines on the many gold and stone statues in the room.

Statues of gargoyles and wild beasts could be seen in the hallway, looking as though they were standing guard, making sure that no one entered the chapel and disturbed the meeting. The emblem of the Heartless was engraved on the wall behind them.

A select few had been called to gather in the chapel around the table, their faces shrouded in shadow as they glared maliciously at the hologram before them. They stood for a long while in silence, the hologram disappearing from in front of them. Then at last, one of them spoke up, stabbing the stone floor with the tip of his long, golden staff.

"What drew the Heartless to that world?" he asked, his attention to their leader.

Their leader stepped forward, into the dimmed circle of pale light so that she could be seen. The orb on the tip of her staff glimmered green in the sliver of light, and her pale face lit up like the moon on a cold night. Her eyes were a sickly green color as she surveyed her colleagues before she even dared to answer the question.

"The hunter lured them there," she told them, her voice calm and steady. "It was his lust for power that was the bait. But it seems the bait was too tasty for his own good."

A mysterious, wicked smile played on her dark lips. One of her followers cackled, a maliciously cheery bubbling of laughter that could chill anyone to the bone.

"Yeah!" he said excitedly. "He got chomped instead!"

The other follower stepped forward slowly, into the dim circle of light. His long face was drawn into a look of superiority. He was a tall, bony man dressed in extravagant clothing and wore a turban with a ruby on it. He carried a gold, ruby-eyed cobra scepter in his left hand. He raised it slightly as he walked so that it wouldn't be dragged across the stone floor.

The man glared at the previous speaker, his upper lip curled in a sneer, and then looked back at their leader. The man's entire presence was akin to that of a snake.

"A weak-hearted fool like him stood no chance against the Heartless," he said scornfully. Then his tone became angry and firm. "But the children are a problem. They found another one of the Keyholes…"

The leader shut her eyes and took in an even breath. The smile remained on her lips.

"Fear not," she said confidently. "If it took them this long to find the second keyhole…then it will take them ages to find the rest…"

She cast her eyes downward so that she was staring at the table. In a glimmer of red and green lights, another hologram appeared, this time showing the two Keyblade wielders and their two companions. They were walking through the jungle after going back down the waterfall cavern. They appeared to be in a state of contentment, despite the obvious fact that Sora had his right arm in a sling, which Jane helped make with use of her skirt. On the way down, Sora had managed to slip and fall on his arm, injuring it enough that he couldn't move it without feeling pain. Though, the way Sora carried himself, it seemed as if it didn't matter.

For a moment, everyone merely glared at the hologram. Then the leader raised her eyes slightly, the disdain and annoyance washing from her expression as she came up with a comforting thought. Her wicked smile returned to her face.

"Besides," she continued, "They remain blissfully unaware of our other plan."

"Yes, the princesses…" another voice spoke, her tone rather smug.

The leader's eyes grew wide in excitement. "They are falling into our hands, one by one."

She raised one hand into the air and waved it. She then glanced slightly over her shoulder.

A young woman in a blue and yellow dress was magically pulled out of the shadows and into the dim light. She staggered forward, her short, wavy black locks swaying from side to side. Her brown eyes darted around as she looked about her, frightened, clasping her hands together. The young woman had very pale skin, almost white as snow. Her hair was black as ebony and her lips were as red as the red rose. (21)

Their evil leader smiled. "Speaking of which…I believe there are other matters we should discuss."

The hologram on the table switched from Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy to two others. A Heartless clad in a white headdress and clothing carried a small Shadow Heartless in her arms as she traveled through the darkness.

"It seems we have traitors on our hands…" the woman said, rather amused than mad. "Who would've thought…" (22)

…

* * *

…

When the group had arrived back at the campsite, the last thing they expected to be greeted with when they entered the tent was puppies…Dalmatian puppies, to be precise.

_Bark! Bark!_  
The Professor laughed endearingly at the puppies and he held up one in the air. "I haven't a clue as to what Dalmatian puppies are doing in the jungle. Then again, that lady in white and that strange creature thing left them here…"

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy were awed at the sight of the puppies. They were surprised to find more puppies in a cluster, but even more so, when they discovered that it had been Fred and Mama that had brought them here. It was also Fred and Mama who had helped the Professor clean up when Jane, Goofy, and Terk left the campsite.

One of the puppies scampered up to Sora and barked at him. Sora blinked and knelt down. The Dalmatian puppy was rather chubby in comparison to the other puppies.

"Let's see what your name is…" Sora said as he looked at the puppy's red collar. "Rolly…huh, cute…Hey, Gabby…what's your puppy's name?"

Gabby blinked as she looked at the female Dalmatian puppy in her hands. "Uh…Penny…that's her name, Penny."

Jane looked at the Dalmatian in her hands. His tail had a black tip and his ears were both black. He wore a red collar that Jane checked for a name.

"Dipstick…" said Jane. "I say, do these Dalmatians belong to anybody?" (23)

"Uh, not sure, but I guess," said Gabby. "They're coming with us…"

Jane looked at Gabby and nodded before handing the younger girl the Dalmatian puppy. After a quick count, Sora found that there were twelve puppies, making the total number puppies that have been found now twenty-five. So far, only Cadpig had been returned to her family and now, Sora and the rest only had seventy-four puppies to go…

"_This is definitely going to take a while…"_ Sora thought as he sighed. "Well, I guess we better get going."

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy had no more reason to stick around. They had to go find the Gummi Ship or rather, the save point. That was definitely going to take some time…

"By the way, these wouldn't happen to be yours, would they?" the Professor said as he held up two pairs of shoes. "Along with the puppies, those two left these shoes here."

Sora blinked as he looked at his yellow shoes. He had almost forgotten about them. It had been so long since he last wore them…in fact, he had gotten so used to being barefooted all the time that he had forgotten how it felt to wear shoes. It was the same for Gabby, too.

"Before you leave…wouldn't you be more comfortable wearing something else?" Jane asked.

It was at that moment that Sora and Gabby were completely aware just how damage their clothing had been. Sora's jumpsuit had tears in many places. It was not much in comparison to how Gabby's clothes were. So far, she didn't have much of a top and had to rely on Sora's hoodie, now that her bandages had snapped. Her skirt was tattered at the ends and her leggings had small tears in them. Sora's hoodie was also tattered in places and stained with blood, but nothing more than that.

Later,

Sora walked into the tent, feeling somewhat out of place with his rather formal clothing. He wore a red suit with a black vest and a white, collared shirt with a white tie. His yellow shoes made him stick out a bit, but not much. His arm was now in an actual sling comprising of a white cloth. According to Donald, he had to wear the sling until they were able to pinpoint the actual seriousness of the injury back on the Gummi Ship. There was a chance that Sora might have broken a bone and broken bones are something that had to be healed very precisely with Cure Magic, otherwise, it won't heal properly in place. (24)

Following him into the tent next, was Gabby. Her eye twitched slightly as Donald, Tarzan, Goofy, and Jiminy (on Goofy's hat) stared at her. Sora had already done his fair share of staring earlier, so he didn't stare this time.

Gabby was wearing a dress similar to Jane's yellow dress in style, save for some distinct differences. It was primarily blue with some white trimmings, had a somewhat shorter skirt, the collar was a cream collar, and it had a small broach on the chest. She wore a pair of cream-colored gloves and had one of her blue ribbons tied around her left wrist. Her other ribbon was tied at the back of her hair, which was now out of its braid, much to Sora's dismay as he knew he was eventually going to have to re-braid it later on…

Sora felt out of place, while Gabby just felt annoyed. She didn't like this dress…she wasn't wearing any leggings, and her shoes felt weird. (25)

"I hate this…" she muttered.

Sora narrowed his eyes at Gabby. "Yeah, so do I…get over it…"

Gabby glared at Sora and whacked him over the head with her parasol…yeah, she had that, too. Sora yelped and winced as he stared at Gabby. He couldn't exactly rub his head, since his right arm was currently out of commission due to being in a sling and his left arm was currently occupied with his and Gabby's tattered clothing.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

"Same person who gave me this dress," Gabby replied as she twirled the parasol in her right hand. "Jane…and where did you get your clothes?"

Sora loosened up his tie. "The Professor…yeah, don't ask…you mind holding this?"

Gabby nodded and took the folded clothes from Sora. Sora sighed and let his left arm hand loose.

"So…where is your ship, anyway?" Jane asked as she entered the tent.

The Professor entered the tent next. "Yes, where is your ship…?"

Donald was the first to respond to their questions. "Well, uh…Not too far."

"_Hopefully…"_ Sora thought, his gaze focusing on Tarzan.

Tarzan walked up to Sora. "Sora, Tarzan…friends."

Sora looked at Tarzan and grinned widely. "We sure are…thank you, Tarzan… Thank you for everything."

For pulling him out of his shell, for helping Gabby, and for guiding them through the past weeks they lived in the jungle… Sora was thankful for everything Tarzan had done. He held out his left hand to Tarzan.

Tarzan peered at Sora's hand curiously, confused. Jane chuckled softly before leaning in and explaining to Tarzan in a whisper what the gesture meant. As soon as Tarzan had learned, he stretched his hand outward. Sora took his hand in his and shook it firmly.

"We'll be seein' ya," Sora said with a smile as they all turned to leave.

"Oh, wait just a moment."

His attention caught, Sora slowly turned around to look at Jane. The young lady reached toward the armchair and pulled out something small that had been out of Sora's view. She looked to Tarzan, who rose slightly and moved to join her, and then, together, they walked toward Sora. He watched them expectantly the whole while.

"Here," said Jane.

She took Sora's hand and pressed something firmly into the palm of his hand. Jane smiled at him admiringly, stealing a glance toward Tarzan. Sora was surprised to see Tarzan's features soften as he looked first at Jane, and then at Sora.

"I think Tarzan has something to say," Jane said softly.

Tarzan rose to his full height, straightening his back, and took a full step forward. Sora saw for the first time just how tall Tarzan really was, and found himself craning his neck just to be able to see Tarzan's face. The gorilla man smiled at Sora, and then pointed at the item in Sora's hand.

"That," he told him gently, "is for you to remember us."

Tarzan placed his hand over Sora's heart. "But remember that we will always be _here_, in your heart."

Sora nodded, having understood Tarzan completely as the young man spoke to him in gorilla. Gabby looked at Tarzan and Sora, smiling.

"Don't worry…" said Gabby. "We won't forget, right Sora?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah…we can never forget you guys. We promise…" (26)

Tarzan nodded his head, having understood everything Sora and Gabby said in English. He, like them, was finally getting over his language barrier. One day, he knew he would be able to speak to them clearly in their language. Tarzan then removed his hand off of Sora's chest and smiled at the boy.

After gathering all twelve puppies and saying their last goodbyes, Sora, Donald, Gabby, and Goofy left the tent. They would never forget what had happened here…not as long as Jiminy kept record of their adventures.

…

It didn't take the group very long to find the Gummi Ship save point, surprisingly. The save point, by chance, happened to be just outside the campsite, right in the bamboo thicket. Had the save point been placed elsewhere, like in the jungle, then this would have proved to be much more difficult and frustrating since they had twelve puppies in their possession that liked to move about and an injured Sora.

The save point teleported the group onboard the Gummi Ship, where they were greeted by two very concerned Gummi Ship engineers.

"What happened to you guys while you were down there?" Chip asked as he looked over the group. "It took us nearly three weeks to find ya!"

"We almost thought we lost ya," Dale remarked. "Sora, what happened to your arm?"

Sora blinked and looked at his right arm. He narrowed his eyes as he remembered his slip up in the waterfall cavern.

"I fell…" he said blankly. "I'm not sure if it's broken, fractured, or just hurt…that's about it."

"Anything else we should know about?" asked Chip.

Jiminy popped out of Goofy's hat and took out his journal. "I'll fill you in on the whole scenario! For now…I think it's best we get these puppies with the others."

A few moments later,

Sora opened the door to a room using his left hand. Inside the room, were the twelve Dalmatian puppies found in Wonderland. Six of the Dalmatian puppies were barking happily as they played with the toys they were given. Four of the Dalmatians stood in front of a small television, watching a show about a dog. Two of the Dalmatians were sleeping in their beds in a corner of the room.

_Bark! Bark!_

All twelve Dalmatians immediately stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the doorway. Twelve more Dalmatian puppies bounded into the room, where they were happily greeted by the previous twelve Dalmatian puppies.

Sora arched his brow as he noticed distinct changes in the room. For one thing, the room actually had décor, which seemed to have been influenced a bit by the Dalmatian puppies. The walls were white with black spots decorating them. The carpet—that was another addition—was red, just like the collars some of the puppies wore. Six, empty blue bowls were lined up against the wall in the left side of the room. Another six bowls were lined up against the wall on the same side of the room. However, unlike the previous six bowls, they were red in color and seemed to be filled with water as a Dalmatian puppy was currently drinking from one.

"Uh, did anything happen while we were gone?" Sora asked Chip and Dale.

"We might have done some redecorating…" Dale replied. "By the way, your rooms are ready."

Chip rubbed the back of his head. "Though, you and Gabby are going to have to share a room since this room is currently occupied."

Sora and Gabby looked at each other.

…

…

…

"I won't mind if you don't mind," said Gabby.

Sora nodded his head. "Likewise…now what do I do about my arm?"

…

After a quick visit to the infirmary, Sora had been diagnosed with a small fracture in his arm. It wasn't serious, but he had to keep his arm in a sling for the rest of the day while his arm healed. Donald may have used Curaga, but Magic only sped up the process of healing. Fractures took at least six hours to heal under the influence of Cure Magic and healing items. Sora counted himself lucky he only had a fracture, otherwise he would have spent at least a week with his arm in a sling had he broke his arm. (27)

While this went on, Goofy directed Gabby to the laundry room, which was a room she just discovered this Gummi Ship had. Goofy had explained to Gabby the way the laundry room worked. The laundry room was run by mechanical gloved hands that not only washed and dried clothes, it also fixed them. (28)

"So how long will it take?" asked Gabby.

"Hmm…not sure, but it usually doesn't take more than a couple of days," Goofy explained. "In the meantime, you can wear that pretty dress Jane gave ya!"

"Joy," Gabby said dryly, her expression blank.

Later in the cockpit,

Right after Jiminy had given them the whole story, Chip and Dale gave Donald and Sora a rather harsh scolding about spilling hot, liquids on the control panel before going back to their posts. With that done, the group went back to their usual seats, with Donald at the wheel, Goofy in his own seat, and Sora and Gabby sharing a seat.

"That gummi block that came out of that hole…it looks a lot like the one we found in Wonderland, doesn't it?" Gabby asked as she buckled her (and Sora's) seatbelt.

Goofy blinked and took out the two gummi blocks in his possession. "It does…huh, I wonder what it's used for."

"It's not like the others," Donald remarked as he flipped a few switches on the control panel.

"I wonder if Leon knows anything about it…" Sora said, yawning afterwards.

Donald took a moment to think. "Hmm…he might. Back to Traverse Town, then?"

Sora just yawned. "Whatever sounds best…I'm just glad we're done with Deep Jungle."

It wasn't that Sora didn't like the world, he actually liked it…much more than Wonderland, at least. It was just that he was finally happy to just sit down and relax… While it was never boring in the jungle and he quite enjoyed the activities he, Tarzan, and Gabby had done together, Sora found just one moment of relaxation a luxury.

A few minutes had passed and Donald looked over his shoulder at Sora, wanting to tell the spiky-haired boy something only to find him asleep. Donald decided to tell Sora later…Sora needed his sleep, he deserved it, especially after all he went through.

…

...

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 3-11-12

OC: "Hey everybody! KD has something important to say!"

Has anyone recently taken a look at this story's published date? Have you noticed anything? It's been three years since I last published it! That's right! This story is three years old…but the revamp is barely six months old! ^^ Half a year…

Anyways, before I start the notes…this chapter struck me as a mood whiplash…which is another tvtrope. Let me get the explanation up…

Mood Whiplash: Fiction often has far extremes. They cover the gamut of emotion, from tragedy to comedy. Sometimes these two will be so close together that they make the viewer's head spin! Done well, the contrast in moods can make each emotion all the more poignant and effective. Done poorly, the contrast can jar the reader/viewer right out of the story.

Hopefully, it wasn't that bad…okay, now that that's out… let's get on with the notes and if you're wondering what happened to Terk, she left the group after the waterfalls. I'm kinda too lazy to go back and put that explanation in because frankly, I like the way I left this chapter here. It took a while to type because I had to do a lot of research involving bullet wounds…now let's move on! ^^

(1) Lampshade hanging~! I love tvtropes…^^ Though, I'm not sure it really counts, but hey! I pointed it out, no?

(2) If a Bouncy Wild slips on their own banana peel, they WILL drop a lot of Munny.

(3) Guess who? Okay, he's your favorite Shadow that Gabby named…

OC: "It's Fred."

Dammit, OC! I wanted—never mind, well yeah! Here's your Fred cameo or whatever this would be considered. Yeah…here's Fred's profile.

Fred

Species: Shadow Heartless

Eyes: Yellow

Gender: Male

Fred is a Shadow Heartless that Gabby has befriended and Sora has come to dislike. Both he and Sora don't get along very well. Fred has issues with the voice in his head, something that he has come to ignore from the very start. What separates him from other Heartless is that he could think.

(4) Considering that Sora has taken many hits before and has never cried from them, Sora has to feel quite a lot of pain from one before it can make him cry.

(5) Say hello to the next Heartless OC, Mama! :D By the way, her name is just something that came to me when I was reading this Pokémon Emerald webcomic, Felik's Adventures: Infinite Lameness. Felik has a Poochyena he named, "Mama". I came across this comic while I was watching _A Petty Nuzlocke Run Heart of Life_ video and spotted a video, which had a link to the comic, called It's Your Day. I cried…because I thought Mama had died and if you're wondering what exactly is a Nuzlocke Run…

Here are the basic rules…

1. Any Pokémon that faints is considered dead, and must be released. (They can also be boxed, but they will not be used for the rest of the challenge).

2. The player may only catch the first Pokémon encountered in each area, and none else. If the first Pokémon encountered faints or flees, there are no second chances.

While not exactly a definite rule, the general consensus is that players must also nickname all of their Pokémon, for the sake of forming stronger emotional bonds.

Most of these challenges are done in comics, which show more emotion and humor than a game would. Try _A Petty Nuzlocke Run_…you will laugh, come to love Locke's Pokémon, and cry when they die. Anyways, here's Mama's OC profile.

Mama

Species: Fortuneteller Heartless

Eyes: Yellow

Gender: Female

Mama is kind and rather gentle Heartless. She and Fred are working together to make it through their current existence, all while ignoring the voices in their heads. It's actually harder than it sounds. Sora is the one who gave her the name "Mama" and befriended her after she iced the bump on his head. She and Fred are shown to be rather close.

Also, I know Fortuneteller Heartless are in the sequel, but hell! Mama's been scripted as a Fortuneteller Heartless since before the revamp! DX

(6) Okay, it took me until this chapter to realize the whole "being different" thing is a _Portal 2 _reference…ya know, since there's a turret who keeps saying, "I'm different." It doesn't attack like the other turrets do…yeah.

(7) Gah, this part…I just don't like that black fruit thing…I feel like that scene was horribly done. DX

(8) And it seems Wonderland has given Sora an improved sense of smell, which is now something that should be seen as a gift. XD

(9) Holy crap, they learned! XD Anyways, I can't exactly have Jane come along…these are Heartless and Clayton. Plus, I uh…well, how else am I going to force Donald and Sora to get along if Goofy is around? With less party members, there is more pressure on teamwork or whatever.

(10) Just so you guys know, I like reptiles…snakes are my favorite, by the way! :D I always a snake, but my mom says no…bleh. I don't like crocodiles and alligators, though…unless its Louis from _The Princess and the Frog_… I LOVE him.

(11) Before you get on my case, I asked my friends about bullet wounds and one of them told me that if a bullet goes through you, even when it doesn't hit anything (which I'll get onto later), you will still end up coughing up blood. As your body begins to react and flow with blood so as to clot the open wound, there is blood beginning to overflow within you to get rid of the tainted blood. Your body uses openings to get rid of this blood and one of them happens to be your mouth and just to let you know, it can actually go through your nose as well…

FYI, the reason one of my friends knows this is because her mom is a nurse. Yeah…never knew that until last week. It's good knowing this bit of information. Okay, now let's get to the explanation of bullet wounds through use of tvtropes.

It's Only a Flesh Wound: On television, as well as in movies, there seems to be this general idea that if someone is shot in the shoulder, or in the leg, then the worst that happens will be that the person will grimace and go on with what he was doing before he was shot. Getting shot in the leg may cause him to hobble around a bit, but no worse than a knee sprain. A "good guy" will sometimes shoot someone in the leg or shoulder, "just to stop him," and in television and movies, this is almost always nonlethal.

However, a bullet wound to the left shoulder will usually prove to be lethal while a character will survive the same wound to the right shoulder or even the right chest, presumably because the heart (allegedly) is on the left side.

In reality, there's no "safe" place to shoot a person, not even in a seemingly non-vital extremity like a leg or arm. There are _huge_ blood vessels in a human being's shoulder as well as lots of very delicate nerves and a very complex ball-and-socket joint that no surgeon on Earth can put back together once it's smashed by a bullet. There are _huge_ blood vessels in a human being's legs too, a shot that nicks the femoral artery will cause a fatal loss of blood in only a few minutes. And this is all assuming a "clean" through-and-through wound, disregarding the possibility of the bullet glancing off a bone or joint and deflecting or fragmenting into pieces which then _can_ hit something else inside. In short, there's no way for anyone, good or bad, to shoot someone and _know_ that they will survive the wound. As they say, if you're shooting at all, you're shooting to kill.

Real Life example: If it is an actual flesh wound, then by definition it will not have hit anything of importance besides flesh and muscle. The only way that could happen is if it had just barely grazed you, or if it had, by some miracle, gone through your lower abdomen in the perfect spot to avoid any internal organs or bones. While both scenarios are possible, they aren't likely to happen often.

Gabby managed to barely survive that one…here is to another of her near-death experiences…and she doesn't even know it. XD Ignorance is a bliss… Yeah, there's the reason why I took long with this chapter. I kinda wanted to implement some realistic features to this story, despite its fictional status and such.

(12) Self-explanatory…Gabby was trying to reenact the scene involving the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As you can see, there's your mood whiplash…yeah…

(13) It took this long for Sora to finally get asked that question. Because really, he is talking to a voice in his head…out loud. Yup…XD

Also, credit goes to **ChibiFoxAI** for this moment right here involving Sora's reaction with, "NO! Mother, guide me, CURE!" Anything before that is all me…also, you might have noticed…I didn't say **Hestic**…why?

Well, let me explain…the author, **Hestic**, is actually two people who shared an account…or used to be as the person I would usually give credit to is known as Chibi, who, as of a few days ago, finally made her own account. So from now on, whenever I give credit, it will usually be to **ChibiFoxAI** since that is whom I've been giving credit to since _Secret or Misconception_.

(14) Gabby has what I believe to be the _Kingdom Hearts_ version of Cure while I gave Sora the _Birth by Sleep_ version of Cure…

(15) OC: "Here's to another class of fanfic biology made especially for this story. KD shall be your teacher…"

Okay, today I shall be using the immune system as a basis…self-regeneration is like the immunity in the immune system once gained…only difference, you gain self-regeneration through using Cure Magic and healing items instead of through vaccinations. Once developed, it is a permanent thing and it is a factor that is available to both those with the Magic dominant and recessive allele.

It helps with replacing lost blood, regenerating broken bones correctly, and also helps heal internal injuries when impalement is involved, but once the body clots the wound, otherwise it won't kick in. Yeah…it's both a good thing with rather inconvenient requirements if you happen to lack Magic and healing items. Hey! I gotta keep a limit to this thing…

(16) Donald is allowed to have spells that are not available to Sora and Gabby…why? He's the Court Magician…he's mastered all the spells, god dammit! He used Thunder on Goofy in their introduction cutscene, so I can't ignore that! So deal with it…

(17) Yeah…I've noticed the different forms with this spell. It starts with 358/2 Days, in which it goes in a line, and in Birth by Sleep…it's kinda like how Cure works in Kingdom Hearts II only instead of healing…you damage enemies! :D Aqua works this spell the best and that is because she is meant for Magic…not attacking because her attack is crap. I'm not insulting Aqua, it's the truth and I happen to like Aqua, by the way, so I am not bashing her. Besides, she IS a Mage and Mages have crap attack stats due to their high Magic stat…remember that.

(18) What was once a running gag with Donald is now, currently, a touchy subject and insecurity for Donald. Yeah, it went from everyone poking fun at Donald to something that bugs him. It'll be a while before this ever turns into a running gag…

(19) Donald has Curaga…deal with it! Only he is allowed to have higher Magic than Sora and Gabby! DX Plus, if you're wondering…higher castings of Magic are only used as last resorts because it uses up a great deal of your Magic.

(20) I am avoiding the whole "Terk has a crush on Donald" thing because to me…Terk is not the type to do that. If anything, she just admires Donald as a character and is more interested in him because of how different he is. I mean, he's a talking duck, for god's sake.

(21) Snow White apparently should have been already been caught due to the whole fact that her stained glass portrait portrayed her eyes as closed, signifying that she had been captured. However, my explanation is this…Snow White had been brought in as an example to show just how far they have gotten in capturing the Princesses of Heart. Though, here's the thing…Alice should have been the Princess of Heart shown, not Snow White. If Deep Jungle is locked before Wonderland, Snow White is shown instead of Alice.

During my second playthrough of the game after my nephew deleted my data, which forced me to start the game over…I believe I locked Deep Jungle first because my hatred for Wonderland still runs deep and made me save it for last. It was quite easy since I had Cure on me…the Trickmaster had nothing on me! NOTHING! DX

So anyways, the reason why Alice wasn't shown is because she hadn't been captured…the Alice in the Wonderland world was merely a manifestation of the real Alice's dream. The real Alice is still in her own world…awake.

That is about as much as I can tell you without spoiling anything.

(22) Well, seeing as Fred and Mama are helping out Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy, they are betraying their own cause as Heartless and going against the orders of those controlling the Heartless. It is something that the committee of evil people has become aware of, just so you know. This actually marks the beginning of which both Fred and Mama are going to be targeted if they prove to be a nuisance.

(23) These three Dalmatians are part of the original fifteen. All ninety-nine Dalmatians have names, ya know…but I am only making the original fifteen known because, really, I have no clue what the characteristics are for the rest of the Dalmatians. Anyways, you can look up the whole list for the names of the ninety-nine Dalmatian puppies on Google…

As Luka said, Gugure Kasu, of Go Google it…love that song, by the way. XP Also, remember how I said the Dalmatians are going to be found in clusters? Well, here's the rest of the explanation... Fred and Mama are in charge of finding the Dalmatians in the world they are in and leaving them in clusters for Sora and the gang to find. That is the only way I can actually make that possible without having a plot hole or whatever it would be called...

(24) If anything, it's actually a bad idea to use Cure Magic or items on injuries that are potential fractures or broken bones. Because if not healed correctly, then the affected area will not heal in the right alignment…this has come to my attention after I remembered something from _Bioshock_. In the _Bioshock_ series, the Little Sisters are basically the personification of this trope; because of the huge amounts of Applied Phlebotinum (the versatile substance that may be rubbed on almost anything to cause an effect needed by a plot) coursing through their veins, they can pretty much reconstruct their bodies instantly. In fact, they heal so fast that they frolic around with no suits at the bottom of the ocean. They heal so fast that their skeletal structure reconstructs itself 'before they explode from pressure.'

However, _Bioshock 2_ reveals that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. According to one Audio Diary, when a Little Sister fell off some railings, her leg bones regenerated in odd angles, forcing doctors to break her legs until it healed right. The diary ends with the doctor saying that although they may heal, he can confirm that they feel pain.

This is what I want to avoid…because, really, this could happen…and I know, as the authoress, I can make it so it won't happen, but I'm not doing that. I want downsides…that way, there is at least something that keeps everything to a limit. Yeah…I kinda want limits to keep everything in place so it at least seems realistic. I mean, Magic exists, but I have to at least put things so it balances out...

Don't judge me! DX I'm imposing limits on my status as authoress so I can keep from being like, "It's fanfiction, I can do anything" and screw up this story with plot holes…ahem, moving on.

(25) Hooray for costume changes! :D *gets shot*

OC: "Uh…"

Anyways, yeah…Sora and Gabby did need a costume change for a bit since their clothing is kinda tattered and bloodstained…they'll get their original clothes back, don't you worry! ^^

(26) And then comes Chain of Memories.

OC: "Too soon, KD, too soon."

Hey! It was bound to happen…It's something that cannot be avoided, no matter what. I had to point it out…gah, I'm gonna feel like a total heartless bitch when I get to this part, but hey! Like I said, it's something that cannot be avoided! XP

As of 4-4-12, I decided to cut out some part of chapter 17 and add it here…here are the notes continuing on from 26.

(27) Because I have to at least keep things realistic so it balances out… I think it works out well…

(28) And of course, my explanation for this is Disney. You can see so many Disney Town influences on this, already. Pretty much, this was my answer to solving clothing damage Sora and Gabby have gone through. It makes sense, no? Don't question me! DX

Okay, I have a confession to make…when I was writing this chapter, everything after the beginning of the Heartless fight…I threw a LOT of things in. The whole battle in the jungle was planned…Gabby getting shot was planned…Sora getting shot—not planned. Donald's out of control Thunder being an insecurity of his instead of a funny thing…not planned. Sora and Donald being forced to work together because of Gabby having to recover—not planned and this little thing actually helped me out with finally finding a way to get Sora and Donald to get over their differences.

Yeah…so anyways, this marks the end of the Deep Jungle saga…it's been great while it lasted, so comes the next world…I'll give you a hint: Greek mythology—and no, it's not _Percy Jackson_, while I may love the series as much as _Harry Potter_. Oh, I almost forgot!

OC: "KD screwed herself over!"

Because guess who's gonna try and run for my town's Miss (insert town name) pageant? I am~!

OC: "Work on your singing…you need a talent."

Yeah…and if I manage to get through the talent pre-screening…then, I'm officially signed up and pretty much screwed up my summer schedule/free time…basically, it's me going through Dama practice again, only instead of a Quinceañera…it's a pageant. Don't worry, this will only last until September! Then again, by then, I will have entered my last year of high school…let's not think about that! ^^'

OC: "Holy crap…"

What?

OC: "KD just got a life."

Oh, shit, you're right…well, crap. Moving on, you know the drill! Construction criticism is always welcome, but I don't take lessons…I want advice. Tell me if there are any mistakes, because while KD is good at proofreading, she can't do crap with her own stories until later on! NO FLAMES! DX I will not take insults without explanation as to why you hate this story! Reviews are nice…so long as they are NOT flames!

Well, till next time! Be patient for the next chapter~! KD out! XD


	17. Let's Be Heroes

A/N: **IT IS IMPORANT YOU READ THIS!** I suggest you go back to chapter 16 and re-read it…I edited that chapter rather drastically by adding something in it. If you don't go back and just continue reading this, you WILL be confused because I cut out part of this chapter and added it into chapter 16…so, don't read this unless you have read chapter 16 again…okay, let's move on.

* * *

…

…

Two days later,

Sora stared at his hoodie as he held it out in front of himself. It was spotless, all the tears had been repaired, and the bullet hole had also been patched up…rather expertly, too. His hoodie looked brand new… He was already wearing his recently repaired jumpsuit. It felt nice to be back in his usual clothes…and now, with his hoodie on…he felt like himself again.

"Sora, can you help me with my hair?" Gabby asked as she barged into the room. She was back to wearing her school uniform, and rather happy about that, too. She didn't like the dress…it was too fancy for her tastes and she just didn't like dresses in general.

Sora looked at Gabby and nodded his head. "Sure…get over here."

…

Sora had just about finished braiding Gabby's hair when a voice on the intercom suddenly spoke. _**"Sora, Gabby, come to the cockpit and take a look at this."**_

It was Donald… Sora and Gabby looked at each other and shrugged. They would go…right after Sora finished braiding Gabby's hair.

A few minutes later,

Sora and Gabby entered the cockpit, their gaze focused on Donald.

"What is it?" Sora asked, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't you dare touch that braid!"

Gabby stared at Sora wide-eyed, her fingers merely inches away from her hair. She quickly moved her hands, earning a satisfied nod from Sora. Sora turned to Donald.

"Look," Donald said, directing Sora and Gabby to the window.

Outside the Gummi Ship was a world…only it wasn't Traverse Town, but a different one. The world was small and round, just like the previous two worlds, only unlike the others, it had a tall, mountain jutting out of the top of the world. White, fluffy clouds engulfed the peak of the mountain where two statues of fighting armored soldiers stood on opposite ends. The statues faced each other, their swords clashing over the archway below them. (1)

Surrounding the mountain, were buildings with a distinct style in architecture. Lush, green grasslands covered the surface along with a narrow, blue stream lining the underside of the surface.

Sora and Gabby stared wide-eyed at the world. "Whoa…"

Donald cleared his throat and the two turned to him. "This is Olympus Coliseum."

"So…" Sora turned to Donald. "Any reason why we're here and not at Traverse Town, Donald?"

"Sora…do you really want to ask?" asked Gabby. "Remember what happened when Donald didn't want to check the last world we came to."

The incident that happened three weeks ago which involved the Deep Jungle was basically the result of that happening. It involved near-death experiences, a ravenous leopardess that held grudges, and a man with a gun who managed to shoot Sora in the arm and Gabby through the stomach. (A/N For further information of this happening, please refer to chapters 11 through 16.)

Sora laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, right…so, let's go?"

"Not yet," replied Donald. "Before we go, there's something I need to say first. We have got to stop meddling."

Sora looked questioningly at Donald. "Uh, how exactly is that important?"

"We got to maintain the World Order, remember?" said Donald.

"What Order?" Gabby asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "We haven't exactly had a reason to in the past two worlds. Wonderland was a bust, considering the Cheshire Cat actually broke it down to us that he knew of other worlds and Deep Jungle—uh, actually, the past world, we got lucky."

"Figuratively speaking, they knew we were from another world," remarked Sora. "But their definition of 'world' is seen as a society."

Gabby blinked. "Uh…what he said. Anyways, what makes you think this world won't be like the others?"

"Do you really wanna chance it?" asked Donald.

…

…

"No," replied Sora. "So, what do you suppose we do? Just stay silent and act natural?"

Donald crossed his arms and smiled. "Leave that, to me."

Later after disembarking,

…

…

Sora looked at himself. "Why am I wearing a toga?"

Sora was wearing a white toga with red and gold hems on the bottom and a chlamys. It was fastened on the shoulder by a single gold pin with a ruby-like gem embedded on it. Around his waist, he wore a brown belt with silver edges and a gold, triangular buckle. Underneath his toga, he wore tight, navy blue shorts with a closefitting shirt of the same color. Along with this, he wore brown sandals.

"Why am I NOT wearing a toga?" Gabby asked as she glared at her outfit. "I know this might as well be the female standard of clothing in this world, but I at least deserve a more appropriate article of clothing that will suit my role as a swordsman!"

Gabby was wearing a blue chiton with a long hemline that reached the ground. Her right shoulder was bare due to the chiton's one shoulder design, much to her dismay. Hidden underneath her chiton's long length, were the brown knee-length sandals she wore. (2)

"Swordswoman," Sora corrected.

Gabby looked at Sora. "You know what I mean—holy crap, it's Kid Icarus!"

Sora narrowed his eyes. "His name his Pit and I do not—okay, I will admit the outfit is a bit…similar…maybe." (3)

"Will you two keep it down?" snapped Donald. "We are trying to blend in!"

Donald wore a plain, white toga. His hat was missing, but he still had on his thick, gold bangles on his wrists. He was very indifferent about his outfit, unlike Sora and Gabby.

"Gawrsh, it's a good thing this alley is empty," remarked Goofy. "Where is everybody, anyways?"

Goofy also wore a white toga, but his had a longer hemline that reached to his knees. He also wore a chlamys, a pair of white shorts, and brown sandals. He was missing his hat, but he still had on his white gloves. (4)

"Who knows," said Donald. "But we can't just stand around and do nothing! Let's go."

Sometime later,

Sora stared in awe at the area before him. Just ahead of him, were two gigantic golden statues of two men in armor, holding their shields and swords, their blades clashing dramatically over another set of doors just below. These doors were similar to those that comprised the main gateway he, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy just went through. At the feet of the golden statues were small torches, which were currently lit, even though the sun had brightened the scenery.

"Just what is this place exactly?" Sora asked as he looked around. "This place is huge! And the architecture…it's so unique! Yet, so familiar…"

Gabby nodded. "Yeah, it does…I wonder where that door over there leads to."

"Maybe we should go look and see," Goofy suggested.

"Great idea!" exclaimed Sora. "Let's go!"

Sora, Gabby, and Goofy took off running to the other side, leaving Donald behind. Donald looked at his teammates and shook his head before running after them. By then, Sora and Goofy had pushed open the doors and peered inside.

Inside was what appeared to be a lobby of some kind. There were two torches on either side of the small stone room that cast their yellow-orange light on the walls. Dead ahead, opposite of the entrance, was a doorway that currently had a small metal chain going across it with a sign that said "closed" in boxy writing. On one side of the room was a large stone pedestal of some sort, standing firmly beneath one of the torches. There was a smaller, different looking pedestal that looked more like the top of a stone column pushed against the wall beneath a sign. Standing on that pedestal and working on that sign was the strangest creature that Sora had probably ever seen in his life.

Sora arched his brow and slowly moved over to the creature to get a better look at it. His eyes widened as he noticed that the creature was human…well, half human since the lower half of his body was that of a goat. Two goat horns protruded from the top of his balding head, and his short tail moved slowly from side to side as the creature examined the sign posted on the wall before him. It was a satyr.

"Oh, my god…it's real…" Sora breathed. "A real satyr…"

Gabby stared in awe at the satyr. "Whoa…does that mean, we're…?"

"That explains the architecture style," remarked Sora. "This is so cool…"

Donald and Goofy stared at Sora and Gabby. They were confused and had no idea what Gabby and Sora were talking about.

"Hey, Sora…do you think he knows what this place is?" asked Gabby.

Sora looked at Gabby. "I don't know…I'll go ask him."

"Try not to sound suspicious," said Donald.

Sora rolled his eyes as he approached the satyr. He stopped just a few inches away from the satyr. "Um…excuse me? Hello?"

"Good timing," the satyr said forcefully as he fixed the sign. He had an accent. (5) "Give me a hand, will ya?"

The satyr never once looked away from his work, not even when he directed Sora to a large stone pedestal on the other side of the room.

"Move that pedestal over there for me," he continued on. "I gotta spruce this place up for the games."

Sora blinked and looked at Gabby, Donald, and Goofy. They all turned their attention to the stone pedestal, then at each other before they shrugged. Sora rubbed the back of his head and sighed.

"Might as well," he thought. "It can't be that hard…"

Sora walked over to the one side of the pedestal. He sized up the large stone block, and then began to push it as hard as he could. He grunted as he found it quite difficult to get the pedestal to move…he couldn't even get it to move a centimeter, let alone an inch!

"_Good Shiva, it weighs a ton!"_ he thought as he clenched his teeth.

"_**It can't be that hard,"**_ mocked a voice.

"_Dammit, Blondie, this isn't the time!"_ thought Sora.

"_**Sorry…couldn't help it,"**_ replied Blondie. _**"I'm used to your partner usually doing that to you and since she can't read minds…"**_

"_You decided to take her place," _Sora thought as he continued to push the pedestal. _"Figures…"_

"_**You know…this place is oddly familiar,"**_ remarked Blondie. _**"I think I've been here before—n-no, it's just me."**_

Sora blinked a few times and stopped pushing the pedestal. He thought for a moment and realized that Blondie had just stuttered. He shrugged and decided to let it be. He had more important things to do, once of which was to complain to the satyr…right after he let his friends have their chance at getting the pedestal to move.

"Good Shiva, this thing weighs a ton!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora looked at Gabby and felt a sense of déjà vu. He shook his head and made his way to the satyr.

"Oi, oi!" he exclaimed. "That pedestal you told me to move…It's waaay too heavy!"

The satyr froze upon hearing those comments. "What? Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little—"

The satyr trailed off after turning to face Sora. He took one look at Sora and said, "Oh, wrong guy…"

"No crap, who did you think it was?" remarked Sora.

The satyr placed his hands on his hips. "Smart-aleck, eh? What're you doing here?"

Sora crossed his arms. "Well, I'm here to ask for information. What is this place?"

The satyr hopped off the pedestal and started walking towards the group. "This here's the world-famous Coliseum—_heroes_ only!"

Donald was idly standing about when the satyr began to approach him. Donald backed away from the satyr, somewhat nervously. The satyr showed no sign of stopping whatsoever and continued walking.

"And I got my hands full preparing for the games," the satyr continued. "So run along, pipsqueaks."

Sora pouted childishly in response to the satyr, earning his full-blown attention. The satyr placed his hands on his hips, his expression softening.

"Look, it's like this," the satyr said softly. He turned on his hoof and began to pace across the room. "Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum."

Donald crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed as he scowled at the satyr. "You got heroes standing right in front of you."

Goofy placed his hands on Sora's shoulders and grinned. "Yup! He's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!"

The satyr turned to Gabby. "And what of you?"

Gabby shrugged. "Apparently, I wasn't expected and as far as I know, I was just chosen to be his partner. Aside from that, we're just best friends and he has a huge crush on my twin sister."

Sora scowled at Gabby. "I do not! I just think she's a great friend!"

Donald cleared his throat, interrupting the two kids as he added, "And we're heroes, too!"

The satyr took one look at the dysfunctional-looking group and scoffed. "Hero? That runt?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that Gabby prefers the term, 'fun-sized'!" snapped Sora.

Gabby blinked and held up her index finger. "Uh, Sora…I think he was referring to you."

Sora blinked owlishly, his eyes widening. "Wait, what? Hey! Who are you calling a runt? I happened to be bigger than you, so you shouldn't be talking!"

Sora's outbursts were drowned out by the satyr's laughter. Sora scowled and tightened his fist.

"What's so funny?" he snapped. "I've fought a bunch of monsters!"

The satyr ceased his laughter and turned to the stone pedestal. "Hey, if you can't even move this…you can't call yourself…a hero!

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy watched the satyr as he tried to move the pedestal. The satyr failed miserably in getting the pedestal to budge. Sora crossed his arms as he watched the satyr collapse onto the floor, his back against the pedestal. The satyr panted heavily, his left hand on his stomach.

"C'mon, Phil," said a voice. "Go easy on them."

Everyone turned to the entrance, where an extremely muscular, broad-shouldered young man stood at the doorway. The man wore orange-brown armor with a metal skirt of some sort. He wore a brown belt around his waist with a gold emblem. He had on brown-colored, knee-high sandals with cross-shaped straps and two wristbands of the same color.

On his head, he wore a reddish-brown headband tied around his forehead, pushing back his rust-colored hair, save for one bang that fell over it. He had sky blue eyes and wore a short, deep blue cape on his back. He had a simple sword with a brown handle and a yellow cross-guard hanging on his hip.

"Okay, I'll admit it takes more than brawn," the satyr said as he got off the floor. "Let's see what…what you can do."

Sora smiled widely and turned to the young man. "Thanks, uh…um…"

"Hercules," the young man replied. "You can call me Herc, for short."

Sora's eyes widened. "Whoa…are you a hero?"

Hercules rubbed the back of his head. "Not yet…but I'm working on it. I'm going to do my best at the games!" (6)

Donald turned to Phil. "Hey! I thought you said only heroes can partake in the games!"

The satyr rubbed his nose. "I might have said that, but Herc is my protégé. I'm training him to become a hero. The games are where he shows me everything I've taught him so far has paid off."

"By the way, what's your name?" asked Sora.

"I'm Philoctetes, trainer of heroes," said the satyr. "Call me Phil…now it's your turn to introduce yourselves."

Sora crossed his arms. "I'm Sora."

Gabby smiled. "And I'm Gabby!"

Donald stepped up. "Donald Duck!"

Goofy scratched his nose lightly. "Goofy!"

Phil looked over the group and turned. _"Something tells me I'm gonna have my work cut out for me."_

…

…

Phil and Hercules led the group to a training ground of some sort with training courses varying in difficulty and type, as well as different types of equipment.

"This is the Coliseum training grounds," explained Phil. "Contestants of the games usually come here to hone their skills and for last minute practice."

"Why is it so empty?" Gabby asked as she looked around.

Phil looked at Gabby. "Because most of the contestants are probably home, resting up for the games. The tournament is in four days…now are you four ready?"

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy nodded in response. Phil arched his brow as he looked closely at the group. He walked up to Gabby and tugged on her chiton's skirt.

"I think you might want to sit this one out, girlie," said Phil. "You might trip and hurt yourself in that chiton."

Gabby blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes. "Herc, do you mind if I borrow your sword?"

Hercules blinked, somewhat taken aback with Gabby's question. He took out his sword and handed it to Gabby. "Sure, just mind the blade."

Gabby nodded and then proceeded to use the sword to shorten her chiton's skirt. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Hercules, and Phil were astonished to see this happen. By the time she was done, Gabby's chiton was remarkably shorter than it was previously before. Gabby handed Hercules back his sword and thanked him.

"So, Phil…what were you saying?" Gabby asked as she crossed her arms.

Phil looked wide-eyed at Gabby. "You're good."

Gabby smirked. "That's what I thought."

Sora looked at Gabby, somewhat stunned. "I thought you didn't like short skirts."

Gabby shrugged. "If it was any longer, it would have gotten in the way. I did what I had to…so are we going to start, or what?"

Later,

Phil and Hercules watched Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy make their way through the obstacle course. Phil couldn't help but notice how well Sora and Gabby were doing.

"Heh, those two kids aren't that bad," Phil said as he stroked his goatee. "It's a shame the same can't be said about their teammates. They're even doing better than you did when you first tried out the obstacle course."

Hercules looked at Phil. "Oh, c'mon, Phil…I wasn't that bad…was I?"

Phil turned away from Hercules. "I rather not answer that question."

"Hey, what's going on?" asked a voice.

Hercules and Phil turned to see a tall, young man standing right next to them. The young man had spiky, black hair and vibrant blue eyes that almost glowed. He wore baggy pants with a sleeveless turtleneck, both navy-blue in color. He had two silver pauldrons on his shoulders, a brown guard over his abdomen with a strange logo on it, and two belts over the aforementioned guard. He wore black gloves, brown boots, and had a sword in a hold on his back. Hercules smiled widely and walked up to the man. The two bumped fists with each other, showing some signs of familiarity.

"Hey, Herc, how's training been for ya?" asked the man.

Hercules rubbed the back of his head. "Not that good…"

The man grinned widely. "You'll get there."

"Say, what happened to your partner?" asked Phil. "It's not every day you're on your own."

"Oh, he's in the lobby," replied the man. "I'll get to him in a bit, but right now…what's going on?"

"A bunch of rookies think they have what it takes to be in the games," Phil said, directing the man at the group. "What? Do you need the obstacle course right now?"

The man shook his head. "No, just curious…well, I better go back into the lobby. Can't keep a friend waiting…"

…

…

Sora was the first to have finished the obstacle course. He was panting heavily as he made his way over to Phil and Hercules. He noticed someone else, a young man with spiky black hair, was with them as he neared them. Once he got a better look at the person, his eyes widened and he immediately picked up the pace.

Sora dashed by Phil and Hercules as he followed the young man into the lobby. The young man didn't notice Sora until the spiky-haired boy bumped into his back.

THUD!

Sora clenched his teeth as he landed on his tailbone. "Gah…"

"Oh, are you okay?" asked the young man.

Sora shook his head and looked up at the man. His eyes widened as he stared at the man.

"…Dad?" said Sora.

The young man was taken aback with Sora's remark. "What?"

Sora got off the ground and walked up to the man. Sora looked at the man closely before suddenly wrapping his arms around the man's waist in an embrace. The man looked exactly like his father, Takeru. He was about the same height, but he wore different clothes. Despite this, there was no mistaking it, this man had to be—

"Dad!" exclaimed Sora. "I finally found you! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Takeru stiffened as he looked at Sora. "Uh…kid?"

"Zack…what's going on?" asked a voice.

Sora and Takeru turned to see a person standing right next to them. The person had extremely long, white hair that practically touched the floor and crimson-red eyes. The person was also quite shorter than Takeru, by at least a foot. Sora couldn't exactly tell if the person was a man or a woman due to their androgynous appearance. He could hear his father's breath hitch as Takeru looked at the white-haired person. (7)

"Zack, did this kid just call you his father?" asked the white-haired person. "Aww, Zack, what did I tell you about using protection!"

Sora blinked and looked up at Takeru, or rather, Zack. Zack held up his hands in his defense as he looked at his much shorter friend.

"C'mon, Alto, I'm not like that!" exclaimed Zack.

Sora released Zack and backed away from him. "I'm sorry…It's just…I've been looking for my father everywhere and…you look like him…"

Sora felt rather embarrassed for mistaking someone for his father. Zack looked at Sora, his expression softening.

"Oh, cheer up, kid!" said Zack. "Hey, why don't you let me be your temporary dad? Just until you find your real dad, hmm?"

Sora stared at Zack and looked at Alto, the white-haired person. Alto just looked at Zack, arms crossed. "And what of the mother? You are looking for your mother, too, right?"

Sora nodded his head. "Yeah…It's been nearly a month, now…"

"Well, I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune…" said Alto. "Hopefully, Zack didn't do anything to—wha?"

Zack grinned as he wrapped his arms around Alto's waist. "Say hello to your new mommy!"

Alto's eyes widened. "ZACK!"

Sora stared at Zack and Alto for a few moments. Suddenly, he snorted and burst into laughter. Zack smiled widely while Alto tried to get out of Zack's arms.

"Let go of me, dammit!" exclaimed Alto. "I am a guy! I cannot be a mother!"

Zack rolled his eyes. "Well, surrogate mother would work out at the best…but still, you can actually pass for a woman."

"…Zack, I'm giving you three seconds to let me go, or you lose the arms," Alto said darkly. "One…two…thre—"

Zack released Alto and walked up to Sora. Sora stopped laughing and looked at Zack as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"All right, squirt," said Zack. "We'll start out with a warm up. Let's see how many squats you can do in thirty seconds."

Sora's eyes widened. "What?"

"You heard me!" snapped Zack.

Alto held up his index finger. "Uh, Zack…I don't think that's what a father does—"

Zack crossed his arms and grinned at Alto. "Well, you're already adjusted to your role as mommy…"

Alto clenched his teeth and tightened his fists. "Quit calling me mommy, Puppy!"

Zack's eyes narrowed and his grin ceased. "Don't call me Puppy, you effeminate jerk."

Alto was taken aback with this response. "Wha…wa…"

Sora had no idea how to react or respond to this and just said, "Uh…"

At that moment, Gabby walked into the lobby. "Sora! There you are! I've been looking for you for the past—Takeru?"

Zack turned to Gabby. "My name's Zack…I'm not this Takeru—who is he?"

Zack looked at Sora, who replied, "He's my father…"

"Oh…well, I'm not him," Zack remarked, turning his attention back on Gabby.

Gabby looked down, frowning. "Aww…"

Zack blinked again and walked over to Gabby. He looked her over, his eyes widening slightly.

"Hey, Alto…let's adopt this girl…" he said.

Alto's eyes widened slightly. "Wha?"

Zack grinned widely and picked Gabby off the ground. "Squirt, you just gained a little sister!"

"I prefer the term, 'fun-sized'!" Gabby exclaimed as she struggled in Zack's arms.

Zack arched his brow. "What about, 'vertically-challenged'? I rather not call you something that reminds me of candy, too much."

"…an exception," replied Gabby. "Can you let me go, now?"

Zack looked seriously at Gabby. "…No…Now, squirt, thirty seconds, go!"

Sora stuttered a bit and immediately started doing squats. Zack nodded his head firmly in satisfaction and looked down at Gabby.

"Hello, what is your name?" asked Zack. "Full name, please… you two are stuck with me until you find your real parents."

Gabby continued to struggle. "Gabrielle Framboise…call me Gabby…Please put me down."

Alto sighed and shook his head. "Zack, put the vertically-challenged girl down."

"Fine…" Zack sighed. "But we're still keeping her!"

With that said, Zack released Gabby, much to her relief. Zack ran his hand through his spiky hair and turned his attention to Sora.

"All right, kid, just keep it up," said Zack. "You only got ten more seconds…how much are you up to now?"

"Fifteen…sixteen…seventeen…" Sora replied with each squat. "Eighteen…"

Zack looked at Sora and sighed. "You have a long way to go…"

"Zack, you had over ten years of training," remarked Alto. "You're twenty-five years old and obviously, you have more experience."

Gabby looked at Alto as she adjusted her skirt. "Actually, we're nearly on the same level of experience."

Alto crossed his arms. "Well, you're not a mercenary like Zack."

Zack blinked and crossed his arms. "Ex-mercenary, actually, remember? I quit…"

Alto stayed silent for a few seconds before nodding his head. "Oh, that's right…but why keep the uniform?"

Zack closed his eyes and let out a puff of air. "I should ask you the same thing, but I won't. I keep it because of the memories…So, Gabby…what are your dreams?"

"I want to be a thief!" Gabby replied with a huge smile on her face.

"And a fine thief you shall be…make your dad, proud," Zack said as he ruffled her hair before turning to Sora. "Anyways, time's up, kid! Now what's your count?"

Sora stood up straight, huffing slightly as he tried to catch his breath. "Ha…ha, twenty-two…"

Zack stared at Sora for a full minute. Sighing, Zack ruffled Sora's hair. "Good enough, kid…what's your name, by the way?"

Sora wiped the sweat off his brow as he replied, "Sora Irino…who are you?"

"Well, I already introduced myself to your vertically-challenged sister, but I might as well do it again," said Zack. "My name's Zack Fair and this guy, right here, is Alto."

Sora arched his brow at Alto. "No surname?"

Alto clenched his teeth and held up his fist to Sora. "What do you expect from me? I'm not like Puppy!"

Zack closed his eyes and brought his hand down the top of Alto's head. Alto's eyes widened slightly as he yelped in surprise.

"Calm the hell down," Zack said as he patted Alto on the head. "You're scaring the kids…and I told you to stop calling me, 'Puppy'."

Alto growled as Zack continued to pat him on the head. "Then maybe you should stop calling me, 'mommy'! And what have I told you about touching me?"

Zack opened his eyes and stopped patting Alto on the head. "Heh, touchy, aren't we? Fine…I'll stop…so, Sora, what brings you to Olympus Coliseum?"

"Uh, the games…" replied Sora.

Zack looked at Sora and grinned. "Well, looks like Phil has his job cut out for himself, then. Try not to strain yourselves too much during training, speaking of which…aren't you and Gabby supposed to be training?"

Sora blinked and stuttered as he remembered something else. "O-oh, crap! Gabby, we forgot about Donald and Goofy!"

"Oh, they're gonna be mad…" said Gabby.

Moments later,

By the time Sora and Gabby had come back, training was already over. Phil called it a day and explained that he needed the training grounds empty. A couple of constants made a specific request that the training ground be empty for them, reasons why were not given, but it seemed that Phil knew exactly why. Hercules escorted the group back to the lobby, telling them to come back tomorrow morning.

Back on the subject about Sora and Gabby ditching their friends…only Donald was mad at Sora and Gabby. Goofy could care less due to his happy-go-lucky nature. Though, Donald calmed down once he was told about Sora's misconception about Zack. Donald understood. The poor kid really just wanted to see his parents again…

"So, they're with you, huh?" said Zack. "Interesting…what do you have to say, Alto?"

Alto just blinked. "I got nothing…"

"Say, are you two, heroes?" asked Goofy.

Alto turned to Goofy. "I guess you can say that."

Sora stared at Alto and Zack with wide-eyes. "Cool…"

"Hey, Zack…what does it take to be a hero?" asked Gabby.

Zack looked down at Gabby and grinned. "Well, kid…that's something you have to find out, yourself."

Gabby frowned. "Aww, c'mon, tell me! Please?"

"Don't bother trying…Puppy's stubborn like that," remarked Alto. "Isn't that right, Puppy?"

Zack glared at Alto. "Oh, shut it, pretty boy…keep talking like that and I _will_ cut your hair in the middle of the night when you are asleep."

Alto jolted and immediately brought his long, white hair closer to himself. "You wouldn't…would you?"

Zack crossed his arms. "Try me…"

"I'll stop…" Alto said meekly.

Zack grinned and ruffled Alto's hair. "I'm glad we could come to a mutual compromise. Only Angeal can call me, 'Puppy'…remember that."

"_Mutual compromise my ass…"_ thought Alto. _"You threatened me…why are we even friends?"_

Zack made his way to the exit, looking over his shoulder at the group as he pushed open the door. "So, do you guys have a place to stay? If not, we can help you out!"

Sora, Donald, Gabby, and Goofy looked at each other before shrugging. They decided to take up Zack's offer. It seemed decent enough…

Later,

After making their way through the town nearby the Coliseum, the group was brought to a stop in front of a somewhat large, two-story building. The building was constructed out of stone, much like most of the buildings in Thebes. The architecture was simple, yet attractive. A large, stone sign was posted at the top of the entrance, with words consisting of letters of a certain language carved onto the stone.

"Welcome to 7th Heaven," said Zack. "This is the best restaurant you can ask for! It is also a bar, but only after seven… Now wait here and watch over Alto for me, okay?" (8)

Before anyone could ask or protest, Zack barged into the building, leaving the group alone. Sora looked at Alto.

"Did he just ask us to watch you?" he asked.

Alto crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. "Way to state the obvious, Captain Obvious…anything else you'd like to point out?"

Sora made a face. "Yeesh, sorry…"

"It's fine, it's just me," replied Alto. "I'm just teasing you… Heh, you remind me a lot of Puppy, just, you're…a tad bit somber."

"Is it that obvious?" Sora asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

Alto shook his head. "A little subtle, but it's there…you just have to listen."

"Hey, do you know Hercules?" asked Gabby.

Donald nodded his head. "It seems like he knows you and Zack."

Alto blinked. "Hmm…? Yeah, the three of us went to the same school…for a while."

"What happened?" asked Goofy.

Alto laughed. "They graduated…that was around seven years ago for them. I just graduated a couple years ago… It sucks being younger than your friends, at times, but we stayed in touch."

"And now you and Zack are living together," remarked Sora.

Alto turned to Sora and crossed his arms. "And you're implying…?"

Sora stuttered. "Uh, nothing! Just…nothing…so you're nineteen?"

Alto was amused, as hinted by the smirk on his face. "Yeah…I'm turning twenty, next month. Nice observation, by the way…how old are you two?"

"We're turning fourteen this year," replied Sora. "And yeah, I know…we don't look it…especially her."

Gabby blinked a few times and scowled. "Hey!"

"Huh, I don't think that about you two," Alto said as he placed his hands on his hips. "If you're thirteen, you're thirteen…who am I to say you don't look your age? If anything, you two sound older than you really are. Kudos…if only Zack was the same way."

"I heard that, pretty boy," Zack said as he walked out of 7th Heaven. "For that, no booze for you tonight!"

Alto stared at Zack, agape. "I'm not even old enough!"

Zack rubbed his nose with his finger. "Doesn't mean anything, here…you've been legal as of your eighteenth birthday." (9)

Alto blinked a few times. "Wha?"

"Now let that knowledge settle in," Zack said as he walked towards Alto and the group. "Does my comment make sense, now?"

Alto clutched his head; unable to handle the newfound knowledge he had been told. "I don't know…I just don't know…"

Zack grinned. "Of course you don't, you've never drank before! Now stay that way unless otherwise. For now, let's show our guests in, shall we?"

…

…

Sora looked around the inside of 7th Heaven. It seemed rather well furnished for a bar, but for a restaurant, it was decent enough. There were framed pictures on the walls and flowers decorated the vases set in the corners of the room. The bar was located at the right side of the room, just next to the stairs leading up to the second floor. A young lady was behind the counter, cleaning a mug with a rag as she stared at the group.

The young lady had long, black hair and rufous-colored eyes. She was rather busty and had long, legs. She wore a white tank-top under a black, leather vest with a zipper going up the center. She also wore black shorts that folded at the waist, forming an additional utility pocket at the front and a short duster at the back that extended to her heels. She had on black, fingerless gloves and wore white, teardrop-shaped earrings.

"Is that them?" asked the young lady. "Zack, I can understand the other two, but the rest? They're just kids…"

Zack scowled at the lady and brought Sora and Gabby close to himself. "Hey, I take that as an offense towards my kids!"

The lady's eyes widened as she dropped the mug in her hands, startled by Zack's response. The mug crashed into the floor and shattered into many pieces.

"Kids?" she repeated. "Zack, are you telling me they're your—? Because if they are…Zack, what have I told you about—"

"I adopted them, Tifa!" Zack interrupted as he hugged Sora and Gabby, wearing a huge grin on his face. "I'm going to be their father until they find their real parents!"

The lady, Tifa looked at Zack, stunned. "Oh, oh…I guess that's okay…I'm not sure how I should act, so please excuse me. I have a mess to clean up…"

Tifa made her way out from behind the counter, slightly disturbed from what could have been. As she made her way towards the broom closet under the stairs, Zack noticed something.

"Where's Barret?" asked Zack. "He's usually around…"

Tifa looked over her shoulder. "Oh, he's helping out with the deliveries…anyways, I'm Tifa Lockhart, owner of 7th Heaven. Make yourselves at home…"

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy nodded. Tifa was rather nice…

"Hey, where's Marlene?" Alto asked, blinking when he felt somewhat cling onto his leg. "Never mind, I found her."

A young, little girl clung onto Alto's leg, laughing she looked up at him. The girl had short, brown hair and big, chocolate brown eyes. She wore a pink dress with a yellow sash around the waist. She seemed to be around three or four years old.

"Alto, can I brush your hair?" she asked.

Alto clenched his teeth as he looked down at the girl. "Not now, Marlene—"

"Please?" Marlene interrupted. "Tifa's busy and Papa's working, so I'm bored…c'mon! Please?"

Alto sighed and shook his head. "All right…"

Marlene squealed and hugged Alto's leg. "Thank you! I'm gonna make you look so pretty…"

Zack smirked at Alto. "And that is why I made you the mommy…you're good with kids, Alto, don't deny it."

"I don't want to hear it, Zack," said Alto. "So shut it…where to, Marlene?"

Marlene released Alto's leg and hopped onto the floor by his side. Smiling, Marlene took Alto's hand and led him up the stairs. Once they had completely disappeared, Zack turned his attention to Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy.

"So which world are you guys from?" asked Zack. "I'm curious…"

Sora, Donald, Gabby, and Goofy resisted the urge to panic. They had no idea how Zack knew they were from another world, and they had no idea how to respond to his question. Sora, in an attempt to keep the World Order, spoke first.

"Uh, I have no idea what you are talking about…" Sora said nervously.

Donald nodded his head in agreement. "Y-Yeah!"

"Cut the act," said Tifa. "You guys are obviously not from around this world, so don't bother keeping up the act."

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other nervously. They had been discovered…

"So much for keeping the World Order…" Gabby muttered.

Goofy frowned. "And we tried so hard this time…"

Their first time trying to maintain the World Order…and it was all a waste.

"So much for trying…" Donald sighed.

Zack grinned as he crossed his arms. "It's all right…you don't have to keep it secret."

Tifa nodded her head as she walked up to the group. "Everyone taking up residence in 7th Heaven is from another world, including myself. Here in Olympus Coliseum, the existence of other worlds isn't much of a secret…"

Goofy blinked. "Huh? Why's that?"

"The gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus welcome visitors," Zack explained. "It's because of them that Olympus Coliseum is so open to other worldly visitors, so you have them to thank…does that answer your question?" (10)

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy nodded their heads in response. They were rather stunned with what they had been told. However, one thing caught their attention.

"Gods and goddesses?" questioned Sora.

Zack nodded his head. "Ya know, like Zeus, Hera, Athena, Ares…they live on Mount Olympus, save for Hades, who lives in the Underworld."

Sora blinked. "Oh, that's right…I forgot…"

"So, they do exist!" exclaimed Gabby. "That is awesome!"

Zack grinned and held up his index finger. "And remember Hercules? His parents are Zeus and Hera, King and Queen of Mount Olympus."

Sora arched his brow. "Wait, I thought Hercules had a mortal mother…"

"He does…and a father, as well," replied Zack. "He's adopted…and if you're wondering because of the Twelve Labors of Heracles…this might take a while, so take a seat."

Later,

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy sat across from Zack on the other side of the table. Zack had gone through a rather long and complicated explanation involving mythology (A/N One that the authoress was too lazy to type out because she has simplified the whole thing into a simple comparison.).

"So, it's like Wonderland," Gabby remarked. "Like how the world was a combination of _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland _and _Through the Looking Glass_…" (11)

Zack stared wide-eyed at Gabby. "Yeaaaahhh…you're going to have to fill me in on this one."

Sora crossed his arms and let out a puff of air. "This is going to be a long story…one of frustration, annoyance, and potential death."

Donald rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother…"

"At least it wasn't Deep Jungle, ah-hyuck!" said Goofy.

Sora, Gabby, and Donald diverted their eyes to the side. "True…"

Zack had his right elbow propped onto the table with his cheek leaning into the open palm of his hand. He was rather intrigued with the group sitting across from him.

"I'd like to hear this story…" he said. "In fact…hey, Marlene! Come on down, it's story time!"

Within the course of a few seconds, Marlene dashed down the stairs, dragging along a much disheveled Alto with her. Alto tripped on the remaining steps and landed flat on his face. Marlene was unaware of this as she was already by Zack's side, jumping up and down ecstatically.

"Story time!" she happily exclaimed.

Tifa looked at Alto and sighed. She set down the mug in her hands onto the counter and made her way over to the white-haired young man on the floor.

"Are you okay—is that my dress?" asked Tifa.

Alto was wearing a white chiton with a flowing skirt. It was simple, yet pretty…

"Marlene made me wear it…" Alto said, his voice muffled by the floor. "I had no choice…"

Tifa sighed and helped Alto off the floor. "You could have at least had her ask me first…"

Marlene turned her attention to Alto. She smiled widely as she grabbed Zack's hand and tried to drag him towards Alto.

"C'mon Zack, I made Alto pretty for you!" she exclaimed. "See, see?"

Zack stifled a laugh and complied with Marlene. He snickered as he was brought closer to Alto.

"Nice dress…" he remarked.

Marlene pointed at Alto. "Isn't Alto pretty?"

Zack grinned. "Yeah, pretty."

"Zack, don't encourage Marlene," said Tifa. "She's making your friend, cross-dress."

"Oh, c'mon, you gotta admit Alto can pull of that dress really well!" remarked Zack. "A skill like that is bound to be useful later in life!" (12)

Alto scowled at Zack as he adjusted the glasses he was currently wearing. The glasses had opaque lenses, completely obscuring Alto's eyes from view.

"Shut it, Puppy," he snapped. "Tifa, would you please clear up the misconception? Marlene still hasn't figured it out…"

Tifa looked at Alto and nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry…when did he ditch you?"

"Around the time Marlene started rummaging through your closet," replied Alto. "That jerk…"

Tifa sighed as she pulled a lock of hair behind her ear. "Marlene, honey…this isn't Alto, this is Aria…"

Marlene tilted her head to the side. "Aria…?"

"Okay, I'm confused, what's going on?" asked Sora.

Tifa looked at Sora. "Here's the thing…Alto's a twin and this is his sister, Aria…Marlene thinks they're the same person, but she still hasn't gotten it down…"

Sora, Donald, Gabby, and Goofy looked at Alto, or rather, Aria. Aria waved nervously at them, somewhat uncertain how to react.

"H-Hi…" she said. "I'm Aria, okay?" (13)

"Aria and Alto look exactly the same," remarked Zack. "The only thing that actually sets them apart is the glasses, which Aria is wearing. Alto doesn't need them, but his sister, on the other hand…even with glasses, she's still blind as a bat!"

"Bats aren't blind, all bats can see," Aria replied as she adjusted her glasses. "Some bats just have poor eyesight and some have the advantage of echolocation to get around…sorry about that."

Zack stared at Aria. "Aria also tends to give out useless information…all right, let's get back to what matters most…Story time!"

"Yay!" exclaimed Marlene.

Sometime later,

Sora covered his head in shame as Gabby started talking about the incident in the courtroom involving Sora's voice as he yelled out, "OBJECTION!"

Everyone but Zack laughed, even Marlene, who didn't even get most of it, but just did so because everyone was laughing. Zack looked at Sora and patted him on the head.

"If you're lucky, you'll only have to put up with this for a few months," Zack reassured.

Sora looked up at Zack. "And if I'm not?"

"Then puberty sucks, kid," Zack replied. "Been there, done that…never want to go through that again."

Sora deadpanned. "I feel better already…"

Zack grinned widely. "You'll live…hopefully, considering what you've been through. I mean a Tonberry…wow, kudos for surviving."

"Compared to you, actually…it's nothing," remarked Aria.

Sora arched his brow at Aria. "What do you mean?"

"Zack had a Tonberry for a summon," replied Aria. "Try beating that…"

Sora stared agape at Zack. "Whoa…and you're still alive?"

"Surprisingly," remarked Aria. "You have no idea what this guy's been through…well, that's enough about that. I find your adventures through Wonderland amusing…"

Later,

"You're telling me this girl is engaged?" Zack said as he looked at Gabby. "My vertically-challenged girl is going to marry someone I don't know?"

Sora nodded his head. "Yeah…but it's all up to her when she graduates."

Zack narrowed his eyes and unsheathed the sword on his back. "Not if I have anything to say about it…"

"Of course, Seymour is gone, considering we lost our world…" Sora explained.

"You never did tell us where you're from," Tifa remarked as she got out of her seat. "Though, before you answer, is anyone hungry? I'll go get dinner started…don't mind me, you guys can go on."

"Well, Gabby and I are from Destiny Islands," said Sora. "…Well, I am, actually…she's not."

Zack looked at Gabby. "Huh, what's with you?"

"One day, she and her sister just suddenly appeared on the islands we played on," Sora explained. "She can't remember anything, aside from those animals she insists exist."

"They are real!" exclaimed Gabby. "They are giant birds you can ride on that say, 'wark'!"

Zack and Aria stared at Gabby. "Chocobos?"

Gabby nodded her head. "Yeah, that's them—why do you know their names?"

"They're not exactly rare where we come from," explained Zack. "They're used for transportation…and, in some cases, racing."

"The Chocobo Races are a big hit at the Golden Saucer," remarked Aria.

Sora stared wide-eyed at Zack and Aria. For once, someone actually agreed with Gabby and her claims about Chocobos. Gabby looked at Sora, wearing a smug grin on her face.

"See, they _are_ **real**," she said. After nearly nine years of protesting and claiming the existence of Chocobos, finally the day came where someone, other than her, confirmed the creature's existence. It felt good…

"I'm not believing anything until I see it!" said Sora. (14)

Zack tilted his head to the side. "Oh, that's a shame…how 'bout one of these days I take you Chocobo riding?"

Gabby perked up to that suggestion. "Ooh, ooh, can I go along? Please? It's been so long…"

"Yeah…once our world finally calms down," said Zack. "It's not exactly pretty…"

"It's war-torn in certain places," Aria explained. "The main power-source our planet runs on has practically done more damage than good. Worst of all, the energy isn't just used for making electricity efficient…"

Aria looked at Zack. Zack averted her gaze as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Shinra has a special group of warriors called SOLDIER," said Marlene. "Zack is a SOLDIER."

Zack turned away. "Not anymore…not after all they've done to me and…That's enough about that."

Aria frowned as she turned to Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy. "Please don't ask about that…we're still trying to recover from the incident."

"It hasn't even been three months…" Zack muttered as he got up from his seat. "And he just left…" (15)

Goofy blinked. "Uh, what's Shinra?"

Marlene looked down. "Papa doesn't like Shinra…it makes him sad, then angry. He always looks at his hand when he hears about Shinra… I think he's mad at them for making his hand like that."

Donald arched his brow. "Like what?"

Marlene blinked and stared at Donald. "I didn't know ducks could talk…"

Donald resisted the urge to face-palm. He had been sitting in front of Marlene for over two hours, now, and she barely noticed. Donald quacked as he suddenly found himself being hugged by Marlene.

"I like you, Mr. Duck!" she said. "You're soft and fluffy!"

Donald narrowed his eyes as, "Aww…" could be heard from Goofy, Gabby, Sora, Zack, and Aria. The scene involving Donald and Marlene was quite adorable…even Donald couldn't keep his current expression for long as he looked at Marlene.

"Aww," Donald said before returning Marlene's hug.

At that moment, a heavy-set, muscular black man barged through the doors. He wore a dirty brown vest and green pants with large, brown boots. He had several bands of metal around his waist and his left arm, and a tattoo on his left shoulder. He had brown eyes, black hair in a style similar to a hi-top fade, and a thick beard. Three scars adorned his right cheek and a dog-tag hung around his neck. What stood out most about the man was his right arm, which was replaced with a gun. The man looked around the room, his attention focusing on the group sitting at the table. (16)

Marlene looked at the man, her eyes beginning to sparkle with joy. She released Donald and made her way towards the man.

"Papa!" she exclaimed. "Welcome home!"

The man looked at Marlene and smiled as he knelt down. Marlene jumped up into the man's arms where he caught her and then placed her on his right shoulder. The man made his way over to the table, stopping only to look at the group that was already sitting there. The man looked at them (Sora, Donald, Gabby, and Goofy) and then at Zack and Aria.

"Who're they?" he asked.

Zack blinked. "Oh, they're our guests…they'll be staying here until the games are over. Aria, if you will?"

Aria nodded her head. "Okay, guys, this man right here is Marlene's father, Barret Wallace."

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy stared at Barret, slightly intimidated by his appearance. Barret stared back at them.

"An' you are?" he asked.

One set of introductions later,

"Say, where's Moto?" asked Zack.

SLAM!

A very angry tall, young man barged through the door. He had short, white hair tied up in a small ponytail with bangs framing his face and deep, blue eyes. He wore a gray, collared shirt with black pants and white shoes. An indigo-colored tie hung around the collar of his short loosely and in his mouth, was a lit cigarette. He also wore black headphones and had a small fang protruding from the left side of his mouth. (17)

The young man took out the cigarette in his mouth. "Barret, I know you care for your daughter, but can you at least help me pack up the boxes?"

Tifa walked out of the kitchen, her attention immediately focusing on the tall, young man. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the lit cigarette in his possession.

"Hey, what have I told you about smoking in this building?" exclaimed Tifa. "This is a no-smoking facility. Either you go out, or you get rid of that cigarette…now!"

The young man looked at Tifa and reluctantly dropped the cigarette. He used his right foot to smash the cigarette.

"Happy?" he said.

Tifa crossed her arms. "No, because you just made a mess on the floor! Now clean it up!"

The young man, Moto, muttered under his breath as he made his way to the broom closet. As he took out the dustpan and broom, Moto noticed something. He turned, his attention focused on Zack and Aria.

"Zack…why is your arm around my sister?" he asked rather angrily. "More importantly, why is she wearing Tifa's dress?"

Zack blinked and looked at his left arm, which was, sure enough, around Aria. Stuttering a bit, Zack removed his arm and distanced himself from Aria. Moto kept his gaze on Zack as he made his way over to entrance. Zack felt rather nervous now and diverted his attention to Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy.

"So, do you guys like flowers?" he asked, rather nervously. "Please say something…"

"I like freesias!" Gabby said quickly. "They're pretty and they smell nice!"

Sora looked at Gabby in a somewhat casual manner. "Huh, I thought you liked lilies…or was it roses?"

"That's Kairi, you jerk," snapped Gabby. "Quit mistaking me for her!"

Sora was taken aback with Gabby's response. "Oh, my bad…"

Sora had to stop using Gabby as a substitute for Kairi…but before he could do that, he had to stop mistaking Gabby for Kairi.

"_How the hell do I keep doing this?"_ he thought. _"They're practically polar opposites! Kairi likes pink…except for hot pink and flamboyant shades… Gabby likes blue."_

"_**That means nothing,"**_ said Blondie. _**"It's just a preference and I see no complete difference between them."**_

"_Says you,"_ Sora thought as he narrowed his eyes. _"I'm taking their personalities into consideration as well as their manner of behavior. Kairi's more feminine, for lack of better terms, and Gabby's…there's a reason why I have yet to consider her as a __**girl**__-girl."_

"_**Okay, that makes sense…" **_Blondie remarked.

Sora snapped out of his thoughts as Aria suddenly said, "I believe the freesia signifies friendship in flower language."

Gabby looked at Sora. "Hey, Sora, I'm gonna need you to confirm that since you obviously have a knack of understanding what flowers mean."

Sora blinked a few times. "Uh…yeah, freesias were traditionally used to convey friendship…just like yellow roses. They also convey other meanings such as innocence, thoughtfulness, perseverance, and being high-spirited…that sounds a lot like us." (18)

"Minus the thoughtfulness," Gabby remarked.

Sora narrowed his eyes on Gabby. "That was uncalled for…if you think I'm inconsiderate, then you're dead wrong! I saved you from drowning! I gave you—uh, never mind."

Sora turned away from Gabby, his face beginning to heat up. Gabby blinked owlishly as she stared at Sora. She had no idea what Sora was about to say, but whatever it was, it had to do with her near-drowning experience…

"What _did_ happen when you saved me?" asked Gabby. "Everything went black after I hit the water… When I woke up, you seemed rather relieved that I was alive…did something happen while I was blacked out?"

Sora turned to Gabby and waved his arms around as he shook his head. "No! Nothing, I was just scared! It wasn't like that time Tidus nearly drowned and Yuna had to—oh, crap! Ignore that!"

"Tidus almost drowned?" exclaimed Gabby. "When was this?"

Sora resisted the urge to sigh in relief. Gabby wasn't there when the incident happened, meaning she had no clue what Yuna did to save Tidus. That meant his darkest secret was kept safe…Seymour did NOT need to find out. He also did not want Gabby finding out what he actually did to save her life. If he did, she would make a huge deal out of it and he would never hear the end of it from everyone…and he _meant_ **everyone**.

"Anyways!" Sora said firmly. "I wouldn't be talking, considering it was your fault you almost drowned."

"It's not my fault I sprained my ankle!" exclaimed Gabby.

Sora diverted his eyes on Gabby. "The reason why you even sprained your ankle in the first place was because you were climbing a tree from a high height over deep water…I'm surprise the impact with the water wasn't what killed you!" (19)

Gabby frowned. "Shut up! I didn't mean for it to happen…it just did…"

Zack watched Sora and Gabby, very much amused with their banter. "You two sound like a married couple…"

Sora and Gabby turned to Zack, scowling as they yelled, "Shut up!"

"Hey, don't talk to your father that way!" snapped Zack.

CRASH!

Moto had just dropped the dustpan, having just heard Zack's outburst. "Zack, did I just hear what I think you just said?"

"Depends on what you thought I said," replied Zack. "And since Alto isn't here…"

Zack placed his arm around Aria's shoulder and moved closer to her. "Aria will be filling in Alto's role as mommy."

Aria face-palmed. "Oh, gods dammit…"

Moto narrowed his eyes at Zack. "Arm off my sister, _now_!"

Aria shook her head and pushed Zack away, knocking him off his seat in the process.

THUD!

Zack glared at Aria as he rubbed his backside. Aria ignored him and just folded her hands in her lap as she looked innocently at Sora, Donald, Gabby, and Goofy. "So, anyways…who's Kairi?"

Gabby blinked. "She's my twin sister. We look nearly identical."

"Except she has short, red hair and violet-blue eyes," remarked Sora.

Gabby narrowed her eyes at Sora. "Geez, Sora, why don't you just propose to my sister already when you get the chance? Wait, you're not old enough…try proposing in two years! In the meantime, just get the ring."

Sora scowled at Gabby. "Screw you! I'm done putting up with that! The next time you keep bringing up my crush on Kairi, I will wound you."

Gabby stared wide-eyed at Sora. "Sora…did you just admit you had a crush on her?"

Sora's eyes widened. "Uh, uh…shit."

Gabby grinned widely and leaned in towards Sora. "You did! Ha! Gabby: 1 Sora: 0!"

Sora slammed his forehead on the table. "Fuck my life…"

Zack was amused. "Huh, you're a twin…that's definitely new…Hey, Aria—"

"Yes, I know…" Aria deadpanned. "I'm a twin, she's a twin—"

Aria stiffened as Zack suddenly popped up by her side and placed his arms around her neck. She growled as Zack propped his head on top of hers. She clenched her teeth as a vein popped out on her forehead.

"She's already taking after her mother!" Zack cooed. "My son's got spiky hair and blue eyes…I think we're off to a great start in family resemblance!"

Suddenly, something hard hit Zack in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him back a few feet. As he tried to regain his lost oxygen and snap out of his daze, something hard hit him yet again in the same spot, only with much more force. Zack was knocked off his feet and sent into the air in a backwards direction. He crashed rather soundly against the wall with a loud, "THUD!"

And then landed flat on his face with a similar sound, only slightly softer. Zack's groans were muffled by the floor. He was dazed and near unconsciousness, his pain being the only thing keeping him conscious. Glaring at him, with the rage of a thousand suns, was Aria, her body positioned in a fighting stance.

Sora and Gabby had long ceased their bickering, their attention, as well everyone else's, focused on Aria and Zack. What had happened was that Aria had elbowed Zack in the stomach, forcing him to release his hold around her neck as he backed up a few feet. Aria quickly hopped out of her seat and turned as she dashed towards Zack. Then, in a rather fluid motion, Aria lunged at Zack, throwing a couple of punches at him. She missed due to her limited reach, which left her short a few inches away from Zack's body. This was most likely a result of untimed coordination, or just the fact that Aria didn't have much of a good reach to begin with. (20)

However, the next hit did not miss. Aria managed to land a solid kick on Zack with enough force to knock him off his feet and sent him hurtling backwards into a wall…HARD. The sound from Zack's impact with the wall was enough to make anyone within hearing distance, which included everyone within 7th Heaven and random pedestrians within a one-mile radius, flinch. How loud the sound was enough to be heard from such a distance was debatable, but it might have been the fact that it was fairly quiet outside…just enough for sounds to be amplified for comedic purposes. (21)

Moments after his impact with the wall, Zack fell forward and landed flat on his face. The sound was much softer, even more so in comparison to the first sound. Aria, fuming with wrath, held up her fist at Zack.

"That's for pushing me to my limits, ya bastard!" she snapped. "Moto gave you warnings, I tried to stay calm, and you just continued acting as if nothing's wrong! Gah! If you guys need me, I'll be in my room!"

With that said, Aria promptly made her way towards the stairs. She didn't bother glancing at Zack's nearly unconscious form as she passed him. All went well, until…

Moto's eyes widened. "Aria, watch out for the—"

THUD!

"—wall…" Moto deadpanned after witnessing Aria walk into a wall.

It was at that moment, Zack recovered from his impact with the wall and floor. Surprisingly, he seemed relatively unharmed. He shook his head and stood up, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to recollect his thoughts. He blinked as he stared at Aria, who lay sprawled on the floor, dazed.

Sighing, Zack shook his head and made his way over to Aria. He knelt down by her side and looked down at her.

"Honestly, I can't take you seriously if this is what you do after owning me," he remarked. "Isn't this ironic…"

Aria sat up and turned to Zack. "Fuck…you… The wall came out of nowhere."

Zack sighed again, grinning afterwards. "That would be the case…if you weren't wearing your glasses. And so, you've just confirmed that, even with glasses, you are blind."

"Just take me to my room," Aria said sternly. "I don't want to walk into the wall again…"

"I didn't hear a please!" Zack said in a somewhat teasing manner.

SLAP!

A few moments later,

Zack, sporting a red hand mark on his right cheek, walked up the stairs, silently. In his arms, he carried Aria, whom had her arms crossed as she muttered under her breath.

…

…

Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy were at a loss for words at the moment. As were Barret, Marlene, Tifa, and Moto…however, Moto, unlike the rest, was amused instead of shocked. Within a few seconds, a grin crossed Moto's face as he crossed his arms.

"That was priceless," he remarked.

Tifa blinked. "Are you referring to how Aria dominated Zack, walked into a wall right after dominating Zack, or asked Zack to carry her after walking into said wall?"

Moto narrowed his eyes. "The former…if I wasn't in such a good mood right now, I would berate Aria for even asking that question to Zack…right after kicking his ass. But since she slapped him, I think I'll just settle for maiming Zack…"

Tifa closed her eyes and sighed. "Moto, you really need to stop being so hostile towards Zack…"

"Well, if he wasn't so _intimate_ with Aria, I'd let him be," Moto remarked. "It's not as innocent as he think he is!"

Tifa placed her hands on her hips. "It's not like he's…I refrain myself from finishing that sentence."

"Why?" asked Moto.

Tifa gestured at Sora, Gabby, and Marlene. "There are children in this room."

Moto blinked. "Oh…point taken."

"Anyways, what about Alto?" asked Tifa.

Moto blinked. "Huh? Oh, right, him…yeah, him, too. So, what's for dinner?"

Tifa turned around and held out her hands. "Why do I even bother?"

…

Sora cleared his throat and decided to change the subject…quickly. "So, guys, since we're training with Phil and all…what do you think about becoming a hero?"

"I think it's a great idea!" said Goofy.

Donald made a face. "I still say we're already heroes…"

"I wonder what it does take to become a hero…" said Gabby. "What do you guys think?"

Goofy scratched his head thoughtfully. "I wonder that, too."

As Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy started a discussion on what it took to be a hero, Barret made his way upstairs, Marlene still on his shoulder. As much as he wanted to question everything that had happened since he arrived to 7th Heaven, he decided not to and just focus more on Marlene. He really hated being away from Marlene, but someone had to help out Moto with the deliveries… For now, he decided to just make the best of his time with Marlene.

…

"By the way, kid…you do know you look like Kid Icarus, right?" said Moto.

Sora slammed his head on the table. "His name is Pit…"

"I know, but I didn't think you'd actually get that comparison," Moto remarked as he scratched his head. "Still…the resemblance is uncanny."

Gabby looked at Moto. "I thought the same thing."

Donald and Goofy looked at each other. They were rather confused…

"Who's Pit?" asked Donald.

Goofy just shrugged.

…

…

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Date of Final Revamp: 4-4-12

FINALLY! Okay, I know it's been a while and it's three days too late for an April Fool's joke…

OC: "So we're not doing the whole, 'you screwed up your life due to pregnancy' joke?"

That joke's tasteless, and everyone who knows me _knows_ I know better than to end up like that. Though, I do wish I was able to do the same thing my friend did when she sent me a text message…god, I almost fell for that one! XD She told me to delete her number and what I did was fucked up…I almost thought I did something wrong, but then I noticed she left an, "April fools!" at the end of the text…hah…classic.

OC: "Well, there's always next year."

Bleh…anyways, an introductory filler chapter can really slow you down… A bit of a heads up on where I am in life—

OC: "Which we discovered you had last chapter."

Guess who made it through Talent pre-screening? I did! :D Though, in the end, after trying to avoid it, I am stuck with my instrument…meh, I got over it. I'm quite all right playing my instrument, now…

OC: "Cuz your singing sucks!"

Bleh…ahem, well, anyways, if I make it through Talent Presentation Night, I will be officially in! ^^ I also thought I should let you guys know…I'm out for spring break! :D Yay~!

OC: "This would be good…if you didn't have to spend an hour of your time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday taking Tae Kwon Do!"

Oh, that reminds me… On 3-14-12, I started taking Tae Kwon Do…I'm serious… Heh, funny, considering my Ben 10 fic…I REALLY need to update that story…bleh, sometimes my fandom hopping gets inconvenient. Moving on, I took my first test on 3-23-12, and got my yellow belt on 3-30-12… Now before you assume anything, I just got lucky I signed up sometime before testing and that white belt has such basic techniques…even the teacher commented on that. If I didn't take that test, then I would have spent the next three months doing the same basic techniques…

OC: "You still can't even tie your own belt."

Screw off, OC! Let's get on with the notes, shall we?

(1) I call them soldiers because I can't exactly call them gladiators…that's the Romans, not Greeks. Yeah, I'm what you call a bit of a history geek when it involves Greeks and Romans…mostly Greeks, but just around the subject involving Greek Mythology. 3-30-12 I even checked out a few Greek mythology books for the hell of it. It's both to benefit the Olympus Coliseum Saga…and just for myself. :3 I LOVE to indulge of Greek Mythology…because of Disney's Hercules, I got into Greek Mythology…I still love the movie despite its inaccuracies, but if you knew Greek mythology…you'd know WHY Disney had to tone it down in the movie. Besides, you can tell Disney did their research when you see the many Greek Mythology references in the movie…ha, Pandora and her box and the wooden horse with the Trojans…classic.

(2) Okay, technically it's supposed to be a chiton. Togas are more Roman than Greek, because the Greeks had garments called chiton and peplos…yeah, I do my research! DX Still, for the convenience, I will be referring to Sora's outfit and any other male character's Grecian garment as a toga. Females will stick to chiton because if you'd take a look at the peplos…yeah, no, I'm not about to do that to Gabby.

(3) Sora looks like Pit…look at this picture before you try to tell me otherwise! moboroshi-uta . deviantart. c om /art/ Sora-or-Pit- xD – 130033420 What now?

Oh, also…what's funny about this is that I made this reference around two days before I got Kid Icarus Uprising…by the way, I got that game on 3-24-12… Yeah, it took me sometime after I made the reference to realize that _Kid Icarus Uprising_ was coming out that week…and now I own the game…and I LOVE it. So hilarious…there is practically no fourth wall in the game and Pit reminds me a lot of a somewhat older Sora…they're somewhat alike, just…Pit's more innocent and because of that, he's really naïve. It's cute, actually… Still, Pit's his own character and I love him…heh, he is so hilarious…

OC: "MOVING ON!"

Ahem, yes…that's right!

(4) Because that's how Disney characters work out…they keep their gloves! Also, the whole adding shorts on Goofy…I'm sorry, but I seriously can't see him wearing a toga without wearing something to cover himself from the waist, down… It's just me, sorry… Still, it's kinda fitting…yeah, don't question me! DX  
(5) Just so you know, Phil's accent is that of a North Jersey accent, the same accent Danny DeVito has…yeah, I actually looked it up. Rather interesting…

(6) Oh, what's this? Did KD just screw up the plot? Why yes she did! :D *gets bricked*

Look, it's like this…I rather that Hercules be in the same spot Sora, Gabby, Donald, and Goofy are in. He'll become a true hero in the sequel, but for now…He's in his current pre-Hydra battle. Think of it like that…he'll be a hero by the Hades Cup, I'll give you that…

(7) If you still haven't figured it out, I modeled Sora's father after Zack Fair. His mother is modeled after Aerith Gainsborough…the only reason why Sora hasn't mistaken Aerith for his mother is because Aerith introduced herself long before Sora had a chance to see a resemblance. Anyways, you should know who Zack Fair is…he was in Birth by Sleep and given his own game in Crisis Core…a game which I have yet to finish! DX I own it, but…yeah, I rage-quitted during a mission and since my PSP got stolen…all that memory! DX I am not going through that Ifrit summon mission again!

Oh, I just realized where Sora's hatred for Ifrit came from…it came from my experience with the god damn summon in Crisis Core! DX Gah, it was horrible…I think a Phoenix Down actually saved me… Okay, let's move onto another OC profile…

Alto

Age: 19

Hair: Extremely long and white

Eyes: Crimson Red

Height: 5'1"

A friend of Zack and Hercules, you may recognize Alto as a previous character from _Blossoming Adventure II_ as a man named Atticus…yes, this is actually Atticus, however…I changed his name. Yup…so, here's the deal about Alto, here. He retains his previous personality, in which he is usually calm, if not a bit hostile towards Zack for reasons unknown…but still good friends with Zack. They're like bickering siblings, if one could basically sum up their friendship as that. He's also good with children.

Alto is a good example on how long hair does _nothing_ to distinguish gender! So, yeah…also, I kinda de-aged Alto from his previous incarnate. Slightly different from Atticus, but still the same in how Zack refers to him as, "Pretty boy" as a retort to being called, "Puppy". Those who have played _Crisis Core_ will get that reference…and find it reasonable as to why Zack finds the nickname personal. I mean I did refer to Angeal… Poor Zack…doomed by canon, as Tvtropes would put it…this is another reason why I rather not finish _Crisis Core_, I already know what's going to happen in the end…and nothing can be done to stop it. T_T

By the way, **ChibiFoxAI** and I have been waiting for this scene since like…forever! Hope you liked it, **Chibi**! :D Here's the long awaited scene!

(8) Oh, what's this? Did I just incorporate more Final Fantasy VII into Olympus Coliseum? Why, yes I did! :D Basically, this is what this world actually is…there is a connection between FFVII and Olympus Coliseum, what it is…all in good time! In the meantime, say hello to some FFVII characters! :D

(9) What's funny about that line is that sometime after typing down the, "No booze for you", I looked up the drinking age in Greece. Sure enough, Alto's actually legal to drink alcohol, which is what Zack just finished explaining to Alto. The drinking age in Greece is eighteen…hah, that random…

(10) Basically, this is me incorporating my beliefs about Olympus Coliseum and my plans for this world into this story. I have always seen this world being very open to other worlds and have no need for boundaries. I mean, think about it…if it wasn't, then the Coliseum wouldn't have that many contenders….yeah, just bear with me.

(11) Yes, that's my explanation—shut up! DX I thought it was a great way to simplify things! Okay, I'll try simplifying it again…think of how Wonderland is, a world based on Lewis Carroll's books. Now look at Olympus Coliseum…it is a world based on Greek Mythology…the way it works is that, like Wonderland, it has similarities to its origin, but also differences, like Wonderland. Also, Hercules is the Roman name, the Greek name is Heracles…just to let you know…

(12) Is this foreshadowing I see right here?

OC: "KD, no one's going to get that unless they played _Final Fantasy VII_."

Ugh, that mind-scarring incident in Wall Market… DX Yet, I still love that part for the fact that Final Fantasy VII: The Sevening by Obstinate Melon on deviantart was able to make such a hilarious Wall Market act…by the way, check out that web comic! It be hilarious…and it's ongoing. Anyways, this incident is not only mind-scarring, but hilarious once you get past the disturbing elements…yeah… if you want to know what it is…

Look it up on YouTube…that's all.

OC: "At least it's not the Honeybee Inn."

Oh, god, no! Don't even start with that! DX

(13) Say hello to the second OC, Aria! :D

Aria

Age: 19

Hair: Extremely long and white

Eyes: ?

Height: 5'1"

Another friend of Zack's and the twin sister to Alto, Aria starts out with the impression of a shy young woman…though, once pushed to her limits, she's actually rather violent. Unlike Alto, Aria wears glasses due to her poor eyesight. Even with her glasses, it's not much of an improvement. She's very much like Alto in a sense when it involves her relationship with Zack, but much more assertive.

(14) After many a chapter, Gabby finally gets her much awaited confirmation on the existence of Chocobos…and Sora still won't believe her until he sees the real thing.

(15) Please refer to _Crisis Core_ and _Final Fantasy VII_ to get this…yes, it's rather apparent that this takes place after _Crisis Core_…or somewhere along the lines considering Zack is still—yeah, no.

(16) Ah, I love the Final Fantasy wiki…that's where I get most of my descriptions from, if you're wondering. Anyways, here's Barret Wallace and his daughter, Marlene… I love Marlene, she's adorable…but I love Barret. He's so bad ass…yet, still caring and loving enough to think of his daughter before anything. It's adorable, actually.

(17) Say hello to yet another OC.

Moto

Age: 25

Hair: Short and white

Eyes: Blue

Height: 6'0"

Moto is Alto and Aria's older brother. Unlike his twin siblings, he is extremely hostile towards Zack for reasons unknown except to Tifa, who wants him to drop the damn grudge. He has elongated canines, which is what gives him that fang, and seems to be extremely protective of Aria when it comes to Zack. He is around Zack's age and a tad bit shorter than Zack, but even so, he is still intimidating towards him…because Moto has that Big Brother Instinct. He also smokes cigarettes, just like Cid...only, Tifa manages to get him to stop WITHOUT having to hide the cigarettes, unlike in Cid's case where he resorts to chewing on a toothpick that replaced his stolen cigarettes.

(18) Ah, freesias…I really like these flowers and what I find amusing is that I can actually connect it to Sora. It's rather fitting…yup! :D

(19) Oh, ooh! Let's use Tvtropes to explain this one!

OC: "You're getting really reliant on Tvtropes…"

Shut up! Ahem…now here's soft water, explaining Gabby's near-drowning experience!

Soft Water comes into play when a fall from any height at all can be rendered harmless or merely incapacitating if, at the end of the fall, the character meets a body of deep water (and sometimes, not even all that deep).

In the real world, falls into water from even moderate heights can be injurious if not done correctly, as anyone who's belly-flopped or back-smackered off a diving board can attest to. Falls from a sufficient height into water _will_ be fatal _regardless_ of whether or not it's done "correctly". A fall at eighty miles per hour into water is lethal; meanwhile the average human body falls at roughly _120_ miles per hour, in as little as 10 seconds (from 200 feet).

In real life, a person who falls into _very_ deep water and enters it in a dive may fare better than hitting ground because they are making a gradual rather than a sudden stop. However, there will still be a lot of force exerted on the person's body, given that water is about 800 times as dense as air. So if you've ever been hit by 120 mph (55 m/s) wind, just imagine if the air was 800 times as thick to get an idea of hitting water at that speed. To make matters worse, entering a diving posture in preparation for entering the water will increase a person's terminal velocity, meaning they will be going even _faster_ when they enter the water.

There's also the issue of one's swimming ability— many people who _are_ fortunate enough to survive the fall itself will often drown because of poor swimming ability or injuries will make them unable to keep their head above the water (particularly if knocked unconscious). Then there's the issue of exhaustion, as even the fittest and most skilled swimmers simply cannot tread water forever. Or, if the water is sufficiently cold, often they will just succumb to hypothermia and drown before help can reach them. Not to mention the possibility of being knocked out by the impact...

In short, a fall into the drink from 200 feet or more will pretty much _always_ be fatal — whereas a fall even onto "solid" ground may not!

So, that adds yet another near-death experience to that one instance where Gabby falls off that tree. Though, it might help that Gabby wasn't that high up, but still…the fall…yeah, it definitely had to _hurt_, at least…moving on!

(20) That part reminds me so much of Ranma ½ during the part where Ranma was stuck in his female form and was temporarily returned back… Actually, I'm not even sure anymore which episode it was, but all I know it had to do with female Ranma and her fighting one of the guys… She tried to punch him, only for her to get punched in the face and her punch failing due to her limited reach, which she doesn't have in her male form…basically, it's like this for Aria…yeah…

(21) Ah, I love lampshade hanging…XD

Yeah, so this chapter…meh, Goofy and Donald practically had no lines… I'm sorry! DX It's just…ZACK! As much as it seems I don't like Zack due to the fact he's been kicked into a wall and slapped…I actually love him. He's nice…and he would make a really great father, I've seen the scene in which Yuffie appeared in Crisis Core and Zack played along… It was adorable. :3

Anyways, this is the first chapter of the Olympus Coliseum saga and I have yet to make a Percy Jackson reference…and I have two of the books with me right now! DX

So, moving on…you guys know the drill. Constructive criticism is always welcomed, so long as it's just advice and not LESSONS. DX Reviews are nice, but FLAMES AREN'T! Flames aren't welcomed…if you hate this story, give me reasons why! I need to know…maybe it's something I'm doing wrong or maybe it's just an opinion, whatever it is, tell me!

Ahem, done with that…I have Tae Kwon Do practice today…and we're sparring! :D Yay…Hopefully, I don't hit a kick below the padding like I did my first sparring…

OC: "You haven't done that since the first and second time…"

I just wish those kids stop kicking me in the thighs! DX Kick higher or put me against someone taller and at my level, dammit!

OC: "Ahem…"

Oh, right…well, until next time! KD out! XD


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